Results May Vary
by aliveagain
Summary: College: the best years of your life. What comes next? Maybe not so much. As old friends Eve, Maria, Kelly, Alicia and Kaitlyn return home following graduation, adulthood arrives to welcome them to the rest of their lives. OG story feat. other Divas and Superstars such as The Shield, Cody Rhodes, CM Punk, Dolph Ziggler, Wade Barrett, Justin Gabriel and others.
1. Girlfriends

_So I've been feeling so inspired to write that I just had to post this new story I've been working on! If you've been following my other story Self Made you'll know that at the moment I'm racing through updates, so hopefully this new story should progress just as quickly. This one is going to be very different to Self Made, and will feature an ensemble cast of WWE Superstars and Divas; although mostly focused around Eve Torres, Maria Kanellis, Kelly Kelly, Kaitlyn and Alicia Fox. Other Divas and Superstars will make appearance and play major roles in the story so if you'd like to request one of your favourites to be involved, I'm very open to suggestions. If this first chapter gets some good feedback I'll keep it going, so please read, review, follow, favourite! Reader support means everything and I'd like to get as much response to Results May Vary as possible. This first chapter is a bit of a flashback/introduction, so the rest of the story will feel a little different. Hopefully I'll get some action going in the next few chapters. So... enjoy the ride!_

**1. Girlfriends**

_GOODBYE AND GOOD LUCK SENIOR CLASS OF 2010_

"Can you believe we're graduating?"

Maria Kanellis threw herself onto her best friend's bed with a dramatic sigh. Eve Torres, who was sat at her vanity table curling her hair rolled her eyes in response.

"Maria, as I recall from the first day of freshman year of high school, you said, and I quote, 'four more years and we can finally get out of this dump.'"

Maria grinned sheepishly.

"What can I say? These past few years have been a lot better than I expected them to be."

Eve nodded in agreement and looked back at the mirror with a dreamy smile.

"Yeah. I guess they haven't been that bad, have they? But college is going to be even better. Goodbye Connecticut-"

"And hello California!"

With a grin, Maria grabbed her laptop and hit play on Tupac's 'California Love'. The two girls squealed in excitement, jumping up from their seats to dance around Eve's room and sing along as the chorus kicked in.

"Oh come on guys! How many more times am I gonna have to hear this song this summer?"

The two dancing girls stopped and turned, beaming as their friend Kelly Blank stood in the doorway with her hands on her hips and an equally large smile on her face.

"Oh Kells," Maria said dreamily, grabbing her hands and swinging her around the room with her. "We graduate in T-minus 24 hours. One more day and our lives begin for real!"

Kelly shook her head and giggled, kicking off her shoes and climbing onto Eve's bed. Maria went over to join her, placing her head on the blonde's shoulder.

"Don't say that!" Eve rolled her chair away from her desk so that she could sit facing her two friends. "God, that sounds terrifying."

"Tell me about it," Kelly mumbled. "High school's felt real enough. And besides, you guys are all happy because you're heading off to California together; meanwhile I'll be across the country on my stony lonesome."

"We won't exactly be together, Kelly," Eve said. "I'm going to college in SoCal, Maria's going to be in LA. We're all going to have to brave it alone."

"Yeah," Maria chimed in. "And even though we'll probably be raving about Cali all summer long, you're going to Florida, Kells! That's been your dream since middle school. All three of us will be up to our ears in hot beach babe guys and surfer dudes."

"I know," Kelly said with a giggle. "It'll just be weird, I guess. And then Alicia's in Florida, and Kaitlyn's in Chicago... I can't believe we're literally going to be spread out across the entire country!"

Eve and Maria nodded and sighed in response. The sombre mood was quickly interrupted by the arrival of the two women in question.

"Hey guys!" Alicia Fox beamed, then frowned looking around at the faces of her friends. "Oh God, Kells, have you already got started on your daily 'I can't believe it's all over!' speech?"

"Come on guys," Kaitlyn Bonin added. "You're acting like it's the end of the world."

Alicia stepped out of her pumps and joined Kelly and Maria on the bed while Kaitlyn took residence on the floor by Eve's chair.

"Look at us," Kaitlyn continued. "We've been the tightest motherfuckers since junior high. We are literally sickening. Like, it's gross how much we love each other. I mean, I've definitely lost count of how many times we've seen Maria's boobs over the years."

Maria poked her tongue out at her and threw a cushion in her direction as the other girls laughed.

"It's true though," Alicia piped up. "We've made it through junior high; we've made it through high school... so what if we're going to be apart at college? We'll see each other every time we come back home during the vacations, we'll constantly be skyping and all that stuff. It's like... it's like that summer a couple of years ago when all five of us went off to different places with our families and when we got back, we shared all the new things we've learned – and bought – and talk about the cute boys we met and do all that Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants kind of stuff."

"Yeah," Eve nodded, grinning as Alicia spoke. "That's what college is going to be like for us. Just without the magical jeans. Think of how much stuff we're going to learn and see and all that; think of how lucky we are to practically get to witness five different college experiences!"

All the girls nodded in agreement and began chattering in excitement.

"You know," Kelly said, looking around at her friends. "We should totally keep up that tradition we have of spending at least one holiday together every year. Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Year's, the Fourth of July..."

"Ryan Gosling's latest movie premiere..." Maria added.

"Matt Hardy's latest epic breakup with whatever clone of Amy he's dating that year..." Alicia continued.

All five girls burst into laughter at the new game they had just created and spent several more minutes coming up with new holidays to celebrate. After some time, Eve clutched her side and begged for them to stop.

"You guys are too much," she said between breaths.

"Kelly's right though," Kaitlyn said with a shrug. "We're joking about it, but think about how much fun we had that year we spent Christmas with your grandparents in Florida, 'Leesh. And when we went camping on the Fourth of July the year before. It makes sense to keep doing it, no matter where these next few years take us."

Eve nodded. "I know we're going to go off and make new friends at college and have our own lives to live-"

"For once," Kaitlyn joked, making the girls giggle again.

"But-" Eve continued. "That doesn't mean we can't still be like this when we _do _get back together. It just makes it all the more special, I guess."

"So it's agreed," Maria said, looking around at her four best friends. "No matter what happens, every year, college and beyond, we'll pick a holiday and get together just like old times."

The rest of the girls murmured in agreement.

"Just think," Kelly said quietly. "Four years down the line, once we've graduated, we could be back here in Eve's room like always, but college graduates. We'll have it all together. The jobs of our dreams, gorgeous city apartments, our future husbands, we'll all look fantastic, obviously..."

"Hear hear!" Maria shouted out. "I can't wait, guys. Adulthood beckons!"

"I can't wait 'till the day I never have to see Dolph Ziggler's stupid peroxide hair again," Kelly mumbled.

Alicia patted her arm sympathetically. Dolph Ziggler, the drop dead gorgeous star athlete of Springfort High and one of the most popular guys at school, had managed to woo the notoriously shy Kelly Blank after months of trying. The couple were together for almost two years – a relationship which had ended abruptly just before Christmas of senior year when it was revealed that he had been cheating on her for months with the classically hot, charismatic and popular cheerleader Nikki Bella. Kelly was devastated but her friends, as always, were on hand with endless supplies of ice cream and RomComs to get her through the break-up.

"Don't worry Kells," Maria said with a sigh. "At least your love life so far has been marginally better than mine."

As Maria had suggested, Kelly wasn't the only one of the bunch who had been unlucky in love throughout high school. Maria went off into a dream-like trance as her friends rolled their eyes and sniggered. It didn't take much guessing to figure out what was on her mind.

Throughout high school, Maria had harboured a huge crush on well-known misfit Phil 'call me Punk' Brooks. Her friends had spent years trying to get Maria to do as much as _speak _to the clueless object of her affection, but she would panic whenever the opportunity arose. The ice cream and cheesy movies were whipped out once again when Punk had started dating Matt Hardy's ex-girlfriend Amy Dumas. Maria hated to admit how much she liked Amy as a person, with her carefree demeanour, Punk Rock attitude and constant friendliness. But as her friends would constantly remind her, Amy wasn't the one who stopped Maria from making a move on Punk when he _was _available.

"Well as long as we're on this depressing subject," Eve said, snapping Maria out of her daydream. "I've got one word for you..."

"A_WESOME!" _All five women shouted, before collapsing into a fit of giggles.

"I can't believe you dated that asshole," Kaitlyn choked, wiping away a non-existent tear.

"I can't either," Eve muttered through gritted teeth.

The ex in question was Mike 'The Miz' Mizanin. Mike was quite possibly the most obnoxious guy on the planet. With his constantly perfectly gelled and spiked hair, non-stop arrogant grin and totally unnecessary catchphrase ("What kind of asshole even _has _a catchphrase in real life?!" Kaitlyn had ranted during Eve's tearful post-breakup bitching session with the girls), Eve had no idea what she had ever seen in the guy. Back in junior year, she had considered his arrogance to be an attractive sort of confidence, but had quickly reconsidered this after overhearing him recount the story to his boys of how she had lost her virginity to him the night of Prom.

"Such an asshole," Alicia concurred with a scowl. She hated the guy's guts, and had been sure to give him the telling off of his life after finding out what he had done to her best friend.

"But that's in the past now," Eve shuddered.

All eyes now turned to Kaitlyn, who blushed and looked down at the floor when she realized it was now her turn to reminisce on her love life.

"I wonder if Derrick Bateman's managed to get over you breaking his heart yet," Maria teased.

"Come on!" Kaitlyn protested. "Me and Derrick were better friends than we were boyfriend and girlfriend. Let's just say it was... a failed experiment."

She sighed.

"I guess it just never really happened for me at high school. I mean, think of all the guys I went on dates with or sort of hooked up with, and it never came to anything. It's pretty depressing that Derrick was the best I could do."

"Hey, that's not true!" Kelly chimed in. "You and Johnny Curtis were _totally _the It couple for a while there..."

Kaitlyn cringed and buried her face in her hands as her friends burst into another fit of laughter. It was the horrifying – at least, it was in Kaitlyn's eyes – story of her on-off romance with aptly nicknamed 'Dirty Curty'. She had fallen for his charm and good looks back in sophomore year, and they had eventually undertaken a no strings attached sexual relationship. This followed her brief relationship with Derrick Bateman and was the running joke among her friends from the day it began to... well, the joke never really ended. Fair enough, Johnny was a very good looking man and a very good lover – as much as Kaitlyn hated to admit it – and the affair continued until she had walked in on him getting it on with notorious mean girl Maxine Perez and she found herself dry-heaving at the thought of ever being intimate with him again. Safe to say, her standards increased dramatically from then on.

The girls sat around Eve's room shaking their heads as they came down from their hysterics.

"God, I can't believe how crappy we all are at love," Maria sighed. "Alicia, you need to teach us your ways, girl!"

Alicia shrugged with a satisfied smile as her friends' eyes fell on her. Alicia was the serial monogamist of the group, with the running joke being that as long as they had known her, she had never gone more than three months without a boyfriend. Never had her relationships ended badly, either. No cheating scandals, no creeps, no assholes. Alicia's back catalogue of men was filled with guys who were handsome, polite and doting boyfriends; but in her words, while star football player Jack Swagger, cute and loveable Kofi Kingston and even Randy Orton, one of the most gorgeous and sought-after guys at school served as 'Mr Right Now' across Alicia's four years at high school, after each relationship would come to an end she would return to her girlfriends with a sigh, claiming that none really seemed to be the true 'Mr Right'. Nobody had worked out what exactly Alicia's criteria for 'Mr Right' was, and her four best friends were sure that she hadn't either. But now that she was once again newly single after dumping Randy Orton a week earlier ("He's going to school in Missouri; I'm heading off to Florida... it's clear that we're chasing different things in life."), the girls would joke that she would probably find her next man within her first week at college.

"I'm not _that _lucky, guys," she whined. "Okay, so I've had great, long-term relationships with some of the hottest and sweetest guys at school..."

The other four women glared.

"But none of them have been _the one_, you know? They were great as Mr Right Now-"

"But not as Mr Right," the other four chimed in unison. Alicia giggled with a shrug.

"See, you guys totally get what I mean."

Eve sighed, crossing her legs underneath her.

"This is ridiculous. I can't believe we're sat here pouting about all of our failed high school relationships. What does it even matter?"

"Eve's right," Maria nodded. "Everyone says that college is where it all happens, finding your soulmate."

Maria, Alicia and Kelly smiled dreamily while Eve and Kaitlyn exchanged a roll of the eyes.

"Let's put it this way," Kaitlyn said. "If by the time we've all finished college a few years from now not even Alicia has found the man she's going to marry, I guess we can agree we're all screwed."

Alicia shook her head at Kaitlyn while the others laughed.

"Come on guys," Eve said. "We're totally not screwed. So can we put this to bed like Kaitlyn did Johnny-"

The room erupted as Kaitlyn groaned.

"And get some popcorn and a Ryan Gosling movie on or something? Graduation's in the morning and David Otunga's party is tomorrow night, and then we're done with high school forever and the real thing begins. I think that's a cause for celebration."

Maria, Kelly, Alicia and Kaitlyn cheered in agreement and the girls jumped up and started rushing downstairs; ready to enjoy their final night as high schoolers.


	2. Eve and the Chance Encounter

_Thanks for all the great response to the first chapter! I'm loving this story and I've got a lot of ideas lined up so updates are gonna be coming fast and furious. The next few chapters are already written out and how quickly they're posted depends on how much response I can get in the form of reviews, just so I know people are actually reading and wanting more, ha. So the first chapter was more of a prologue than anything; from now onwards I'll be getting into the present day, with the thick of the story really beginning. I'll be teasing pairings over the next few beginning chapters but nothing is set in stone yet :) The first few chapters will be quite short, just to warn you guys._

_Enjoy! _

**2. Eve and the Chance Encounter**

With her hair tied back into a messy bun, dressed in casual workout clothes and her face minimally made up, Eve Torres trawled the aisles of the supermarket her family had frequented since before she was even born. Consulting her list every now and again, Eve would carefully select items off of the shelves before throwing them into the shopping basket in her other hand. It had been les s than two months since she had returned home following her college graduation, and she was already quickly growing tired of her parent's home not having any of the wholesome variety of foods to which she had spent her college life growing accustomed. She had admittedly adopted this habit while dating her first college boyfriend, wannabe bodybuilder Chris Masters, but she had gotten so into his world of fitness and nutrition that she had carried on pursuing these interests herself long after they had broken up.

Being back at home was, as she would constantly reassure herself, temporary. Everyone said it was normal for recent graduates to move back into their parent's homes briefly following graduation, hell, most of her college friends had returned to their hometowns to do the same. Most of her old friends from home were back too.

At the same time, there was something pretty weird about being back in the town you had grown up in, now as an adult. Sure, Eve had come home plenty of times throughout college, but now that she had finished her degree, and there was no promise of returning to Southern California at the end of the vacation to keep her spirits up, she had to admit that she felt a little... lost.

Eve sighed as she finally picked up the right kind of natural yogurt and placed it in the basket.

"All I've gotta do is get one job offer in Cali and then I'm out of here," she muttered to herself.

"Eve? Eve Torres?" Eve's head shot up and she could feel her eyes rolling almost instinctively at the sound of the voice calling her name.

"Mike Mizanin." _Just my luck._

She spoke through gritted teeth and forced a smile as her ex-boyfriend rushed over and pulled her in for a hug.

"Eve Torres." He stood back and looked her up and down, shaking his head in disbelief. "I haven't seen you since..."

"Not since high school graduation."

Mike grinned.

"Oh man, high school. That feels like so long ago now."

"Yup."

"Hey, you must have finished college by now. You went to school in SoCal, right?"

She nodded.

"Yep, on both points. All done now and back home in good ol' Connecticut."

He laughed at the sound of sarcasm in her tone. She hadn't changed a bit.

"Man, tell me about it. I spent the past four years living it up in LA so being back here is bizarre to say the least."

She nodded again, preparing herself for whatever he was about to start bragging about.

"So, how was college for you? What are you up to now?"

Her eyebrows rose. She was fairly surprised to hear him affording the spotlight to somebody else. She quickly looked over him again, finally noticing how different he looked, too. His classic spiked hair-do had been flattened down and grown out into a flattering, mature coifed look. The California sun appeared to have blessed him with a natural, attractive tan and he had some light stubble dotted across his jaw. He was dressed in a dark blue button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up, paired with grey slacks and expensive looking shoes. _Damn_, Eve thought to herself. _The Miz is looking pretty damn good._

She cleared her throat quickly and smiled at him, tucking a loose tendril of wavy brown hair behind her ear.

"College was great, Mike. I made a lot of good friends, had a great four years and learned a lot. Now? I guess I'm back home for the time being, until I get the job in California I really want."

He nodded and smiled as she spoke.

"What about you?" She asked politely.

"Just like you said, I loved college. It gave me the chance to grow up a lot, y'know? I definitely feel like I learned a lot too." A uncharacteristically shy smile swept across his face. "And I met the love of my life."

Eve's heart sank. _Of course Mizanin found someone. Of course._

"Her name's Maryse and she's the most beautiful woman I've ever laid eyes on. She looks like a supermodel. She's from Montreal but she's getting all the paperwork done so she can move down here and I think there's a real future for us. I've never felt this way about a woman before. No offense."

Eve laughed and shook her head. "None taken. I'm sure she's great and I'm very happy for you, Mike."

"Thanks, Eve."

He looked down at his watch.

"Oh crap, I better get going. I've got a meeting in a little while so I've got to go get ready." He gave Eve another small smile. "But I'd love to see you again, while we're both still in town. Do you wanna go get coffee sometime?"

Eve took a deep breath and smiled courteously.

"You know what, Mike? Sure. I'd love to."

"Great!" He grinned.

The two quickly exchanged numbers before Mike had to rush out of the store, leaving Eve standing alone in the cold section, confused and a little shaken up by the interaction that had just taken place between her and her asshole of an ex-boyfriend... who really didn't seem to be the asshole she had remembered him as. Oh, she could not wait to catch Maria up on this.

As she finished with her shopping and left the store, still reeling from her chance encounter with Mike Mizanin, Eve couldn't help but chuckle to herself. Of course it would go down like that. She was fresh off a workout and looking like a hot mess while The Miz looked like a million bucks. For a second, it was almost as if high school had never ended.

Instead of driving straight back home, Eve decided to take a brief detour, driving a few blocks away to the Starbucks she used to frequent. As she stood in line, her mind would not leave Mike alone; almost as if she was still trying to figure out whether that really just happened. Then as if by clockwork, her phone buzzed in her hand.

_"Hey Eve. Was nice seeing you today. Sorry I had to rush off earlier; I would have loved to have spoken to you for longer! Like I said earlier, it'd be great to see you again. Maybe we could get some lunch tomorrow? Mike x"_

Eve sighed and read the text over a couple of times. _Oh well_, she thought to herself.

_"Hey Mike. Was great seeing you too. Lunch sounds good :) Eve x"_

He quickly texted back a time and place to which she agreed with slight hesitation. The lunch spot he had chosen was a cute, local diner; the exact same one in which they had had several dates back in high school.

A part of her wondered why she had even agreed to such a thing. After all, Mike had broken her heart and her trust just a few years earlier.

"We're not in high school anymore," Maria had reminded her some years earlier as they spoke on the phone about Eve's budding relationship with Chris Masters. "Yeah, Miz broke your heart and was and probably still is a total asshole, but you're done with him. He's away at college, you're away at college, you have no reason to still be dwelling on him. If I can get over Punk, you can deal with getting over Mike. After all, we _are _now mature young college women with the whole world at our feet. We can't keep letting guys slow us down."

Eve laughed, thinking about how the girls had had this exact conversation with Maria just a few months ago, following a break-up of her own.

As airy-fairy and optimistic as Maria was, she was right. Mike _had _slowed Eve down for a long time; making it difficult for her to properly move on even at college. Chris Masters was her first post-Miz boyfriend, and although their relationship was relatively short-lived, it had reassured Eve that not only did she not need Mike anymore, but that she could date or even sleep with men and not worry about how far she could trust them. Even when briefly dating the goofy but loveable Zack Ryder after Chris, and the gentlemanly Shad Gaspard after him, Eve's main concern for the time being went it came to the dating game was being able to assure herself that she could dip her toes in several different ponds instead of worrying about the future and settling down. And it worked. But now, something about seeing Mike again after all these years, the self-professed ladies' man who had now apparently found his 'one', made Eve feel as if he had won the unspoken battle of the exes.


	3. Maria and the Second Chance

**3. Maria and the Second Chance**

Maria hummed to herself as she glided around the record store she had spent her entire adolescence in Connecticut frequenting. Many weekends had been spent dragging Eve, Kaitlyn, Alicia and Kelly around _Call It Classic_, as they would roll their eyes and groan as she raved about the new special edition Ramones record that had been brought in; not to mention the amount of allowance that had been deposited in _Call It Classic. _

"Ooh," she murmured to herself as she picked up a CD from the Rock section, scanning the price tag with a grin. She might have been unemployed and virtually penniless, but there was no way she would miss out on treating herself to _this_.

As she took the CD case and continued scanning the rows, she took a second to glance down at her watch again. It had only just turned four in the afternoon. Okay, so she _had _been out of her parents' house since around 11 in the morning, but it was far too early to go back. She had spent the past two months moping in her old bedroom to the point where, as Eve had pointed out during their Skype conversation the night before, it was just getting silly. So Maria had the idea to wander around the town she grew up in, visiting all the places that reminded her of her childhood. There was the mall where she and her girlfriends would meet up after school and on weekends to get smoothies at _Jean's_ and spend far too much money; the gorgeous boutique that was way out of the price range of any of the teenagers, but that she and Alicia would go to every now and again to drool over the latest fashions and visualize the day where they would be dressed head to toe in all the designer gear; and of course, _Call It Classic_, her favourite record store.

This quite clearly had nothing to do with the fact that Phil Brooks, her teenage crush, worked at the store throughout high school, as her friends had quickly noticed and never failed to point out. She sighed as she gazed around the store, remembering all the times she had gazed just as dreamily as Punk would stand behind the cash register, playing with his lip ring and queuing up the songs that would blast throughout the store. Of course, Punk was now long gone. The last she heard he had moved to Chicago with Amy after college, after spending his entire adolescence promising the world he would make it out of Connecticut and take up residence somewhere filled with passion and promise; somewhere like Chicago. He was always a determined kind of guy, so Maria had no doubt that he had done so already. Meanwhile, she had been forced to leave LA straight after graduation and head back home to her parents after failing to find the job of her dreams in the City of Angels; which was, admittedly, her plan A, B and C.

"Idiot," she muttered to herself, heading over to the cash register to pay for her new find.

As her friends would often point out, Maria was a real dreamer. She was never really one for a back-up plan and would spend most of her time with her head in the clouds, devising all sorts of plans for herself. Back in high school, there wasn't really much to those plans outside of becoming a major fashion designer and marrying Phil Brooks, but during college she had become slightly more realistic; moving on from the idea of Punk altogether and applying for job after job and eventually internship after internship with all the biggest LA fashion institutes but to no avail. She couldn't even find someone who would give her a chance in fashion for _free_.

Now that she had left California and had returned to Connecticut empty-handed, Maria felt as if she had thrown away the one chance she had to make her dreams come true. She had run away when times got tough and now what? No job, definitely no future husband, and no more big California dreams and chances.

"Ma'am..." Her head shot up and she giggled, slightly embarrassed that she had just zoned out while trying to pay for her CD.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled, handing over her cash. She ran a hand through her long, newly red hair – her big college self-reinvention – and sighed as she looked around the store while waiting for her change. She frowned as she glanced at the front door and saw a familiar face.

His long black hair was now cut short and had returned to a more natural dark brown colour. Age had given his face a more handsome, mature look and from what she could tell from where she stood, he was much more heavily tattooed than he was in high school.

Maria's breath hitched in her throat as she turned back around to collect her CD and her change from the cashier before bowing her head and racing out of the store. Phil Brooks wasn't in Chicago; he was right here in Hartford, Connecticut just like she was.

She continued trying to catch her breath as she rushed down the street, speeding up the twenty minute walk back to her house. What was he doing here? By what kind of luck had he ended up wandering back into the store she just so happened to have been in all of these years after high school? She had taken solace in the fact that she would probably never see him again, and thus had spent college getting over him. She had gotten over him through a whole range of men, from the cool bad boy Carlito Colon whom she had met at a party in freshman year; to the gorgeous older jock in John Cena.

John was well known on campus as simply a cool guy. He was the star quarterback of their college's football team and was the kind of guy a girl would want to take home to her parents. He and Maria had met at a frat party when she was in her sophomore year and he was a senior, and their relationship went on until his last few weeks of senior year when he had broken up the relationship after admitting that while she was fun for a college romance, she was nowhere near serious or mature enough for him to be able to see a post-college future for the two of them. She had bumped into him again a year after he had graduated, as he returned to his alma mater to give a speech to the latest graduating class. As her luck would have it, soon after graduation he had become a star player in the NFL, playing for a team back in his home state of Massachusetts. On his arm was a gorgeous woman named Torrie Wilson, who, as he had explained to Maria, had been his high school sweetheart. In his words, John and Torrie had broken up just after high school ended, deciding to go away to college separately with the promise that if their love was really meant to be, they would be able to pick up where they left off after graduation.

Maria had recounted the tale to her friends on Skype that same night, working her way through a bottle of wine as she tearfully repeated, almost verbatim, John's emotional confirmation of the existence of true love and destiny.

"Oh for crying out loud!" She had muttered to herself as Torrie showed off the diamond ring on her finger.

"He's such a romantic," she gushed as her fiancée grinned back at her. She looked back at Maria with a sincere smile on her face. "I just want to thank you, Maria. John has said so many great things about you and by the sound of things, your relationship with him helped him realize how ready he is to settle down. It's so great that you two could end things so amicably and still be friends."

Maria had almost crushed her wine glass in her hand as she muttered Torrie's words back to her four friends through a computer screen. They had all struggled to hold back giggles at the absurdity of the situation.

"Just my luck!" Maria grumbled, taking another gulp of wine. "Just my damn luck."

"Honestly," John had continued. "A part of me thought it was completely done with me and Torrie. We both got through college and got into it with different people, but I don't think we ever really believed that it would work out like this. And then we bumped into each other at this store back home a couple of months after graduation and the sparks just flew all over again."

"Life is weird like that, you know?" Torrie sighed. "Sometimes second chances just come out of the blue. You've just got to know when to grab them."

Eve, Kelly, Alicia and Kaitlyn exchanged 'awws' as Maria came to the end of her story. The redhead frowned at her empty glass of wine and rolled her eyes.

"I swear to god I'm cursed. It's like high school all over again!"

"Maria..." her four friends had called in unison. They had all made a pact never to let Maria dwell on Punk again, and they all knew that that was exactly where this conversation was headed.

"Sorry guys," she sighed. "I guess I'd just like destiny to come give me a chance, for once."

"Come on, Maria," Kelly said soothingly. "We haven't even started senior year yet. Plus, whatever happened to the Maria from a few years ago who would spend all day bouncing around and talking non-stop about how fantastic adulthood is going to be?"

Maria shrugged.

"Exactly. There's still time. So put that wine down, wash those mascara stains off your face, put some cute clothes on and go out and hit the town like the Maria Kanellis we all know and love!"

The other three girls nodded and cheered in agreement, as a smile spread across Maria's face.

"You know what Kells? You're right. This is ridiculous. I'll talk to you guys later; love you all!"

And with that, Maria had followed each one of Kelly's instructions and within an hour had called up some college friends and was out in the midst of LA's nightlife; dancing on tables and flirting with cute Cali boys like only she knew how.

After a while, Maria had managed to get over John Cena. She eventually came to agree with him that there simply was no future for them; the things they wanted were far too different. Maria planned on hitting the big city and conquering the world, while John was ready to head back to his small town with a wife and kids. Maria had been aware of these... artistic differences throughout their relationship, but her dreamer instinct had her hooked on the idea of being with this gorgeous, All-American football player; ironically enough the exact opposite of her usual type. She and John eventually went on to develop a genuine friendship, and she had met him and Torrie – who Maria also admitted was one of the nicest people on the planet – for lunch whenever they were in town.

Maria was the dreamer of her friendship group and as such was usually the one with the positive and can-do attitude. Like Torrie and John she believed strongly in true love and remained determined that he was out there... somewhere.

"If only Kells could see me now," Maria muttered to herself as she kicked off her shoes and flopped onto her bed. She looked around her room, still adorned with the posters and decorations she had carefully selected and put up during her teen years. _I have got to get out of here._

As she lay on her bed, groaning into her pillow, her mind suddenly returned to the words of Torrie Wilson from about a year earlier.

_"Sometimes second chances just come out of the blue. You've just got to know when to grab them."_

Her mind then jumped to the image of Phil Brooks in _Call It Classic _that afternoon.

"Sorry girls," she beamed as she quickly sat up in bed. "I think this time I'm gonna have to follow Torrie Wilson's advice."


	4. Kelly and the Chances Taken

**4. Kelly and the Chances Taken **

Kelly Blank sighed as she peered around her at the greying Connecticut sky. It had been two months and she was missing Florida already.

College had been a dream for the young blonde. She had managed to fulfil her dream of moving to Florida for college and throughout her four years had had nothing but an amazing time. She had made a ton of new, interesting friends, studied a bunch of interesting subjects on top of her Communications major and above all, she had really been able to find herself. Yeah, as clichéd as that was, Kelly honestly believed it to be true. Before college and all throughout school, Kelly had struggled with her confidence. Her shyness often prevented her from taking part in as many things as she would have liked to, and made it hard for her to branch out of her friendship group. Because of this, she – just like most of the other students at her high school – was shocked when star athlete and total hotty Dolph Ziggler had asked the quiet blonde to a school dance. The pair had hit it off and dated for what seemed like years. The brash Dolph Ziggler had taught Kelly a lot about coming out of her shell, but after the devastation of him cheating on her with Nikki Bella, she quickly returned to square one and the comfort of her closest girlfriends.

College was different though. Although she had found it hard in freshman year to adjust to being away from home, her family and friends, by sophomore year it was as if she had become a whole new woman. She had gotten a part time job with her university's student radio station and was able to get some invaluable experience in broadcast journalism; the career path she had been chasing since high school. This new job came with a variety of new friends with a similar interest in journalism, and with new friends came parties and with parties came new boys.

_"Dolph Ziggler who?" _She had thought to herself as she had taken a chance and climbed into bed with the gorgeous Drew McIntyre after meeting him at a frat party; and then again a year down the line when Justin Gabriel, a handsome junior originally from South Africa whom Kelly had met when she had taken yet another chance and finally taken an elective in Biological Sciences and spent a semester working as his lab partner. If Kelly was quickly becoming a pro at taking chances, Justin must have written the book on it. She had become enthralled by the gorgeous South African after spending months listening to him speak about his adventures in skydiving and martial arts and endless other extreme activities. He was the most exciting person she had ever met and before long, lab partners had become friendship which in turn became casual dating, which in turn became a long-term relationship.

She couldn't believe her luck and Maria, Eve, Kaitlyn and Alicia were always excited to hear about the chronicles of the relationship; from Justin teaching Kelly to surf in Miami to the insane sexual chemistry Kelly would admit to the pair having as she giggled and blushed on Skype to her squealing girlfriends. With Alicia also going to school in Florida, she had been the first – and thus far the only – one of the friends to have met Justin and she could quickly see why Kelly was smitten.

"He is literally a walking Ken doll," she squealed as the two had lunch the day after Kelly had introduced her new boyfriend to one of her best friends. "Does he even have a flaw? A single one? Please tell me there's _something _about him that's not perfect. In the bedroom maybe..."

Kelly shook her head and grinned.

"Nope. He's perfect."

The two friends had laughed and toasted to the boy all five friends agreed represented Kelly's newfound attitude. No way would the woman they had known in high school have even thought about agreeing to date someone as wild as Justin Gabriel; and she definitely wouldn't have allowed him to take her rock-climbing.

Kelly sighed as she came to a red light. She tapped her fingers impatiently against the steering wheel and hummed along to the song on the radio. She was currently home following a shift at the restaurant where she had gotten a part-time job after her lack of luck in finding the broadcasting job she wanted. Fortunately enough, _Mange Tout _had been fairly quiet that evening and so Kelly was sent home a little earlier than expected. Normally she would have stayed just to get her hours up, but tonight all she wanted was to get home to her man.

She drove down the all too familiar Hartford streets, desperately resisting the urge to speed just so she could get home to Justin quicker.

The couple were having what they called a sabbatical. Before graduation, Kelly and Justin had agreed that they were both in it for the long haul and quickly made plans to move in together. Plan A was to stay in Florida; where they would post up in Miami seeing as Justin had been made a job offer in the city. However, Justin's job had fallen through just before they were due to graduate and after a tearful phone call to her father back home, Justin and Kelly had reluctantly agreed to rent out a cheap apartment in Kelly's hometown while the two took up part time jobs and scrambled to settle into careers and a home in Miami. So for now, it was as if their lives were on pause. They had their crappy apartments and crappy jobs, but before long Miami would come calling; and lord knows they were desperate to answer.

A blinking light grabbed Kelly's attention all of a sudden and she glanced down to see that she was running low on gas.

"Just my luck," she muttered to herself as she was forced to take a detour and head to the nearest gas station. Stepping out of her car, she pulled the hood of her sweater over her head and wrapped it tighter around her middle; once again cursing this return to the chill of Connecticut after experiencing four years of Florida sunshine. She hummed to herself as she filled the tank of her beat up Honda Civic, absent-mindedly looking around the busy gas station. She frowned as the latest car to pull into the station caught her attention, one that looked a lot like her boyfriend's.

She slowly returned the gas pump and crouched a little by her car to watch as Justin stepped out of the black car. By this time, Justin had usually returned home from work. Not only this, but he did not look dressed for work at all. He was dressed in a smart dark blue shirt paired with cream coloured slacks, and, as Kelly noticed, his hair was definitely done. She had spent enough time watching him getting ready to know that the way his dark brown locks fell was the result of at least half an hour in front of the mirror. If he was going somewhere he definitely hadn't let Kelly know.

_"Oh my god..."_

She let out a gasp as a woman stepped out of the passenger side of the car, walking over to Justin's side and watching him intently, apparently sharing a joke with him as he pumped gas into his car. The woman was definitely not someone Kelly recognized. She was fairly young looking, a tiny little thing with long brown hair and light brown skin. She was dressed in a short blue dress and seemed to have what Kelly recognized as one of Justin's cardigans draped over her. A confused frown spread across Kelly's face as she watched Justin and his female companion laugh with each other before heading in to pay for their gas. Kelly's eyes widened as she watched Justin's hand move down to the woman's lower back as they walked side by side.

She stayed where she was for the next couple of minutes, watching every last moment up to the point where the pair returned to Justin's car and speed away. She stared after them, her mouth open in shock.

Shaking in fury and hurt, she rushed into the station to pay for her gas before rushing back to her car and heading back to the main road. She wasn't sure where to go from here. Would Justin be taking the woman back to her home? He definitely would have had enough time to take her back and have his way with her before Kelly was supposed to have returned home later on. What if she hadn't by chance happened to have finished earlier than usual tonight and caught Justin and his new friend at the gas station? What if she had wandered into her apartment, into her _bedroom _hours later to find him in bed with the mysterious woman?

They had been in Connecticut for two months. As far as she knew he didn't have any old friends in Hartford. And there was no way he would have been _that _chummy with a co-worker this soon. Yeah, Justin was friendly and loved by all, but how close his hand was to this woman's ass was far too friendly for Kelly's liking.

Then, she had an idea. Sharply pulling over in the car park of a local grocery store, she whipped her phone out of her bag and dialled Justin's number.

"Hey babe," he answered after several rings.

"Hey hun," she said sweetly.

"Are you alright? I thought you were working 'till nine tonight."

Was that panic in his voice?

"Yeah, I am. I'm just on a little break before it gets busy. I was just feeling kinda bummed about the Miami stuff and wanted to hear your voice."

"Aw," he laughed, his irresistible South African accent almost making her swoon. But she maintained her composure. "Well, here I am babe."

"I know. So what are you up to?"

Might as well cut to the chase.

He seemed to pause.

"I'm just a home, chilling out, watching some TV. Got home a couple of hours ago and figured I might as well just bum around until my girl gets home. I'm planning on cooking dinner soon, too."

Kelly could feel her blood boiling.

"Oh. That's so sweet. Well, I better go."

"Alright babe, I hope you enjoy the rest of your shift."

"Oh, and Justin?"

"Yeah?"

Kelly sniffed.

"I just wanted you to know that I'm sorry things didn't work out like we thought they would. I know it sucks to be stuck here in Connecticut. But it's only temporary, I know it is. Just look at Alicia; she's getting ready to move to New York and start afresh, and I know that that's gonna be us soon. Just me, you, our dream jobs, a beautiful apartment... all in Miami."

Justin sighed.

"I know, babe. I know it's temporary, and I can't wait for us to finally get to where we want to be. But there's no need to apologize. It's not your fault; it's not anyone's fault. It's just... It's just life. It's like my dad used to say. This life is all about chances and the reason why we're so good together is that neither of us are afraid of taking those chances."

Kelly couldn't help but smile as she wiped a tear away from her eye.

"I love you so much, Justin."

"I love you too, Kells. Now get back to your shift before start getting all emotional on me. I'll be sure to warm up the bed for when you get back later."

She bit her lip and giggled before hanging up the phone and leaning forward to rest her forehead on the wheel on her car. So, he had lied. No matter how cute and romantic he was being, he had fed his girlfriend a barefaced lie. Which meant that he had something to hide. _Someone_ to hide. Kelly's lip quivered as she sat in her car and racked her brain for a plan. It was as if high school had never ended. Here she was again, but this time she was a grown, adult woman crying her eyes out over a cheating boyfriend, and not a naive teenager. Part of Kelly's growth process throughout college had been learning to take the kind of chance that her failed relationship with Dolph Ziggler had prevented her from doing, and now all she could think about was how much this newfound bravery had done nothing but fail her. Before long, she had decided to do what she always did in times of trouble.

"Hey Kells, what's up?" Alicia's bright voice responded to Kelly's call within seconds.

"Oh Leesh..."

And before she knew it, the blonde had burst into a full-on offset of tears.


	5. Alicia and the Chance of a Lifetime

**5. Alicia and the Chance of a Lifetime**

"What box did you want this putting in, love?"

Alicia looked up at the sound of the deep English accent that floated into the bedroom of her childhood home. She smiled dreamily as the man it belonged to followed, his large frame taking up the entire doorway. Alicia sat cross legged on the floor, rifling through some boxes she had found at the bottom of a cupboard.

"Come check this out babe," she beckoned, holding up a stack of photos. Wade smiled and placed the jewellery case he had inquired about on her bedside table, crouching down to join her on the carpeted floor.

Alicia grinned as she flicked through an old photo album.

"I have so many of these. They're amazing, aren't they? I mean, who even has photo albums anymore? I totally think we should bring them back when we move into our place. I want _everything _documented. Our first meal in our brand new home, our first..."

"Night together in our brand new home?" He smirked, as she giggled and smacked him lightly against the arm.

"Babe!" She got back to showing off her photos. "I can't wait for you to meet them," she said with a contented sigh. "I have told the girls so much about you, and they're determined to see what the hype is for themselves before we move to New York."

"Well, I hope I don't disappoint."

"Of course you won't. Trust me, they've never not liked any of my boyfriends. I know how to pick 'em. Especially this time..."

She turned and placed a light kiss across her boyfriend's lips, before letting out another dreamy sigh and resting her head on his shoulders. He wrapped his large arm around her and pulled her closer towards him.

"Not long now," he murmured into her hair. "Just a few more weeks and we'll be in New York."

Alicia nodded.

"I'm so excited, Wade. We've got our jobs lined up, our apartment lined up... it's all just falling in place so perfectly. Honestly, babe, it's just my luck. Falling in love with the man of my dreams, landing the job of my dreams... I just can't believe it!"

"Neither can I."

He began placing soft kisses on the top of her head, before working his attention down to her forehead, her cheek, the tip of her nose, her lips, all the way down to her neck and her shoulder. As he moved down her body his kisses became all the more urgent, and Alicia knew what was coming.

"Babe..." She giggled in reciprocation to his affection but felt herself slowly squirming away. "Not here."

Wade groaned and peeled himself away from her, leaning back on the bed behind them in exasperation. Alicia bit her lip and looked away from.

"I've been staying here for a week now," he said after a brief silence. "And it's been two months since you moved back here and I went back home for a while. I don't mean to complain or to be pushy but... it's been a while, Alicia."

"I know," she said quietly. "But it feels weird doing it in my parents' house."

"They're away for the week!"

"Yeah, but this is still the house, the room I grew up in. Do you know how many times me and Maria sat right here on this floor, right in this spot, and flicked through fashion magazines together? Or how many times me and Kaitlyn would get emotional and needy and would snuggle in that bed?" Alicia looked around her room, suddenly becoming engulfed in this trip down memory lane. "Kelly spent so much time sat on that windowsill, studying literally non-stop. And Eve would always be dancing around and singing along to all the hits on the radio."

She grinned, turning around to face her boyfriend.

"It's just so weird, Wade. Coming back home as an adult and reliving your adolescence. It's almost as if high school never ended."

"Yeah, Alicia, but it did, and we're grownups now," Wade grumbled. "Grownups who tend to have sex with each other, in stranger places than your childhood home, I might add."

He winked and once again pulled his girlfriend closer. She giggled and snuggled up against him.

"But I understand and I respect your wishes," he added with an exaggerated sigh. "I suppose once we're in New York there'll be plenty of time for me to have my wicked way with you."

"Exactly," Alicia concurred, reaching up to plant a kiss on his lips.

Alicia had gone through many 'Mr Right Nows' to eventually find her 'Mr Right' in Wade Barrett. They had initially met through friends in freshman year and had gone on a few dates before the two decided that the chemistry just wasn't really there. They remained friendly with each other, often bumping into one another at classes, or parties, or just out in Tallahassee, and after a few drinks at a friend's house one night in sophomore year, they had rekindled the dim romance that had briefly taken place a year earlier and the sparks flew. More so than they did during Alicia's previous relationship with Sheamus O'Shaunessy, who, as her friends had predicted, Alicia had met and begun dating just a few weeks into freshman year. Sheamus, incidentally, was the 'friend' through whom Alicia and Wade had originally met. And then following Sheamus was Evan Bourne; with whom Alicia had broken up three months before getting with Wade.

"There it is again," Kaitlyn had joked over the phone. "The three month itch."

"That is so not a thing," Alicia had protested.

"Leesh, when was the last time you went more than three months without a boyfriend? You truly are a serial monogamist! You are literally incapable of being single."

"Not true," Alicia had urged but deep down she knew that her friend was right.

But was it really such a bad thing, being a romantic? Besides, it was all worth it now that she had found Wade. After two years of being together, she was certain that it was him that she was going to spend her life with, and in her head this was confirmed when he confessed to her that he felt the same way about her. She just couldn't explain what it was that made him so different to the other men she had dated over the years. Originally from Manchester, England, Wade Barrett had a certain... swagger to him, if you will. She was attracted to his confidence, as well as his intelligence and unbelievable charm. He was bold and brash but he doted on Alicia; treating her well and refusing to let her slip through his fingers.

At first they seemed fairly different to one another. Alicia was the giggly romantic who loved fashion, whereas he was the serious Economics major who took no nonsense. He had definitely lightened up over the years, though, becoming more and more carefree as his relationship with Alicia progressed. Either way, the chemistry between them was strong, and they had decided before graduation that they were going to stay together long-term, which meant there were some big decisions to make. The easiest choice seemed to be to remain where they were in Florida, but the ambitious nature they shared meant that they needed the hustle and bustle of city life. Alicia toyed with the idea of moving to England with him, but he had been the once to squash that ("I chose to study in America for a reason, Alicia.") She scoffed at his idea of them setting up a home in her hometown of Connecticut ("I chose to leave home for a reason, Wade."). Then out of the blue, Wade had come across a job posting in New York City for a major investment banking firm, and it had all come together just like that. New York City... it was the perfect choice: a huge city with huge opportunities which would give the couple the chance to start afresh for real.

As soon as Wade had received his job offer, Alicia began applying for countless positions at countless fashion magazines in the city.

"Don't worry about too much, love," Wade had said as they lay in bed one night. "We'll be able to manage even if you don't find something straight away."

Alicia knew that the main thing on his mind whenever he tried to comfort her like this was their knowledge of how sizeable his start-up paycheck would be. Wade's salary alone would definitely cover the rent of one of the many New York City apartments they had looked at, but Alicia was determined to not make the move to New York until she too had a full time job lined up.

She was finally afforded the chance of a lifetime a couple of months later when one of her lecturers, after a long conversation about Alicia's plans for the future, had referred her to a friend in the city who worked for a major fashion publication. The friend, who Alicia was thrilled to hear was in fact the magazine's Editor-In-Chief, was in the midst of recruiting new contributors from all over the country and had been impressed by Alicia's portfolio of work and interviews; enough so to offer her the job.

It felt like a stroke of dumb luck, Alicia and Wade both being afforded similar big city opportunities so soon after graduation. Alicia knew that most of her friends were nowhere near as lucky thus far. Alicia took this as a sign; a stroke of fate, even. What other signs did she need to prove Wade's status as Mr Right?

"I think we should go out for dinner tonight," Alicia said, coming out of her daydream. "Kaitlyn's been telling me about this new Thai place that's just opened downtown, and I guess it would be nice to get out of the house and forget about packing for one night. I was thinking we could stay out and maybe even rent out a hotel room or something... So, what do you say?"

The devilish grin on Wade's face was all the response she needed.

"If you keep looking at me like that," he whispered into her ear. "We're not even going to make it to dinner."

Alicia shrugged and stood suddenly, holding out her hand to bring her boyfriend up with her. She let out another giggle as he wrapped his large arms around her tiny waist and brought her closer for a passionate kiss. When they eventually pulled away from each other, they stood staring at each other in silence; both trying to catch their breath.

"I love you," he murmured finally, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"Love you more," she replied with a grin.

Wade took a deep breath and stood back.

"Could you give me a second? I need to go and make a quick phone call and grab something from downstairs."

She nodded and watched in adoration as her boyfriend turned and left the room. Almost as soon as he had gone, her phone had started ringing.

"Hey Kells, what's up?" Her bright voice called out. She frowned as she swore she could hear the sound of sobs on the other end of the line.

"Oh Leesh..."

Alicia took a seat on the edge of her bed and listened with a sympathetic ear as Kelly sobbed uncontrollably through the phone. It took several minutes to get her old friend to say something intelligible and when she did, it made Alicia's jaw drop in horror.

"Justin did _what?!"_

"He's cheating on me. I know he is," Kelly said through gulps and sobs.

Alicia did her best to remain calm, and put on her best soothing voice; reminding Kelly that she didn't know anything for sure, and that she just needed to calm down and think about this for a second. She remembered giving her the exact same advice several years ago in response to Kelly's concerns about Dolph Ziggler's infidelity; it was almost as if high school had never ended.

As she continued her calm words of understanding, Wade returned to the room, his hands in the pockets of his jeans. She looked up at him and gave him the look he knew all too well: _"I'm sorry babe... but my girls need me right now."_

He sighed but gave her a nod of understanding, stepping back to allow her to deal with whatever crisis her girlfriends had going on today.

Throughout their relationship, Wade, although having only met Kelly as she went to college in Florida too, had been privy to a range of different dramas. He and Alicia were in bed together about to make love when Eve had called to ask for advice on how to end her relationship with her new, clingy Long Islander boyfriend; then as they were out for dinner not long after, Alicia's jaw had dropped in horror as she had received a text letting her know that Maria's NFL player ex-boyfriend was now engaged. He had cringed in horror as he walked in on a Skype conversation between Alicia and her friends in which Kelly was displaying the new lingerie she had purchased as a treat for her new South African boyfriend. And then there was one of the few times Wade's opinion was requested, when Kaitlyn and Alicia were involved in an intense deliberation over whether or not the third date was too soon to, in their words, 'give him the cookie'. Needless to say, Wade's love for Alicia had taken him way further into the realms of womanhood than he would have ever wanted to voyage.

As he stood in the doorway, it was as if he was not even in the room at all despite his eyes roaming her every move. She switched from calm and collected to animated and agitated as the conversation intensified, and her gorgeous features looked as upset as they would if _she _was the one needing to be consoled. Admittedly the constant presence of each of the five women in each other's lives could be a nuisance to Wade. He had lost count of the amount of times where he and Alicia would be about to make love as her phone buzzed, or how many dates had to be cancelled or delayed so that Alicia could speak to her girls during one of their 'emergencies'. But as he watched her now, in the midst of a deep conversation with Kelly, as he had gathered from the small bits of the conversation he had picked up on, he couldn't help but admire her constant and consistent love for the women she would always gush about being her best friends. He valued Alicia's ability to love as intensely as she did, even more so now that he was one of lucky people on the receiving end of it. He loved that woman wholeheartedly and couldn't wait to do with her all that they had planned – and then some he thought to himself as he played with the small box in his pocket.

"Phew. Sorry about that babe." He snapped to attention suddenly as Alicia finished her phone call and threw the phone down on the bed. "Kelly's going through some really crappy stuff with Justin."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Wade said as he approached her, taking a seat on the bed beside her. "I hope she's okay."

"Yeah, she will be. Kaitlyn's the one who would have dealt with all of that in a snap. She's good at telling people what they need to hear, whereas I'm too much of a softy and a romantic to play bad cop."

Wade smirked.

"That's not a bad thing."

"I guess not," Alicia said with a shrug. "But – and please don't get made babe – but I've promised her I'll keep her company for a little while tonight. She doesn't want any of the others to know about what's going on so I'm the only one who can..."

"It's okay, love," Wade said with a sigh. "I understand. There'll be other date nights."

She jumped up with a squeal.

"Thank you so much for understanding. You are the best boyfriend I could ever have asked for."

He stood and opened up his arms as she rushed to hug him. He leaned down and kissed her lips.

"Alicia, before you go, there was something I wanted to talk to you about tonight."

"Yeah?" She frowned, looking up at him. Wade took a deep breath.

"I've been thinking about this for a while, and I'm not one to rush into things but I know I'm making the right decision here. Our relationship has been amazing and I am truly in love with you. I know you just said I'm the boyfriend of your dreams, but... but what about being the husband of your dreams?"

He stepped back to lower himself onto one knee while Alicia stood, open-mouthed in shock, feeling as if she was going to faint.

"I can't wait to move to New York with you and start our lives together. So I want to make this official, I want to make this real. My dad once told me that finding the woman who will never want to make you want another ever again is the chance of a lifetime, and I am so fortunate to have found that in you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Alicia. Will you marry me?"

Alicia had spent her entire life fantasising about those four words. She had dated several Mr Right Nows and would always complain about not yet having met Mr Right. What she hadn't bargained for in this journey to finding the man who would ask those four words of her and make her sure that she wanted nothing more than to say yes, was that at some point Mr Right Now and Mr Right would become the exact same thing. As Wade Barrett stood bent below her, she was sure that this was exactly what she had found.

"Of course I will, Wade," she breathed, eyeing the diamond posed in the box he had pulled out of his pocket in disbelief. Her heart raced as she allowed him to place the ring on her finger, before planting a soft kiss on her hand and returning to his feet so that he could engulf her in an embrace.

"Now, go off and see to Kelly. I'll be here when you get back and maybe we can see to getting that hotel room?"

Alicia nodded vigorously and kissed Wade passionately before grabbing her purse and racing out of the house. As she stepped into her car and turned the engine on, she let out a small scream of excitement before taking a few deep breaths. As much as she wanted to call all the girls together right there and then to give them the news, Kelly needed her tonight. With a sigh, Alicia slipped the sparkling ring into the glove box and began driving down to the diner they had agreed to go to. Looking back at the house as she pulled away, Alicia felt a pang of longing hit her.

_Next up is Kaitlyn's introductory chapter and then the story will be fully caught up on where their lives have gotten to post-college! Thanks for all the great reviews so far!_


	6. Kaitlyn and the Off Chance

**6. Kaitlyn and the Off Chance**

"Kaitlyn, I can't believe we really just sat through three hours of The Walking Dead. I'm pretty sure I'm a zombie now, too. Is this what unemployment does to you?"

Kaitlyn giggled and finally stood up from the couch, taking the empty bowl of popcorn to the kitchen.

"It's pretty depressing, huh?"

"More than depressing."

AJ Lee jumped up from the couch in her usual sprightly fashion and followed Kaitlyn to the kitchen, taking a seat by the counter as Kaitlyn put on a pot of coffee.

"Do you wanna order takeout?" AJ suggested, resting her chin on her hand.

"I guess," Kaitlyn said with a sigh. "Chinese?"

"What else?"

The two grinned at each other as Kaitlyn tossed over a pamphlet from a local Chinese restaurant.

"You know, this week has been so much fun," AJ said as she scanned over the food options. "I miss us being roommates already."

"Tell me about it," Kaitlyn concurred. "I'm definitely going to miss video games and Walking Dead marathons."

AJ and Kaitlyn's friendship was only a few years in the making, but was truly something special. The two had met in college after being assigned as roommates during freshman year and had been inseparable ever since. They shared a similar dry, sarcastic sense of humour and loved how silly they could be with each other.

"I may not have left college with a boyfriend," she had joked to the girls, "but at least I've got myself a heterosexual life partner."

AJ, a tiny firecracker originally from New Jersey, had moved to Chicago for college with the dream in mind of being a software designer. She had a passion for video games that she had successfully instilled in her college roommate Kaitlyn, and the two quickly got into the habit of sharing different parts of their lives with each other as they grew throughout the four years. Kaitlyn's Biology major meant that she had spent the vast majority of her four years of college in a lab, and unwinding with AJ at the end of the day quickly became one of her favourite hobbies.

Kaitlyn was at first hesitant about the new BFF in her life; after all, she still had her four girlfriends from back home dotted around the country. Before long however, these worries had disappeared, as Kaitlyn grew to appreciate all the different spaces her college pals and her childhood friends filled in her life. She was forever grateful for AJ's sarcastic jokes and how much fun they found themselves getting into at college, but at the same time she didn't know how she would have survived the four years if it wasn't for her girlfriends still being around to offer her advice on matters of the heart especially.

Truth be told, boy matters just were not AJ's forte and she would gladly step back and let Kaitlyn call on Kelly, Alicia, Eve and Maria to listen to her complain about the men in her life. With that being said, there wasn't much that Kaitlyn could boast about in that department. A few flings here and there were all she could attest to, her longest being a brief romance with Ettore 'Big E' Langston; a well built International Relations major with an impressive sporting background and a great sense of humour. Kaitlyn and Ettore had enjoyed a few months of fun in freshman year before deciding they were better friends than anything, and alongside AJ had gone on to become great friends throughout the rest of their time at college.

Kaitlyn was grateful for AJ's presence in her life, but she was getting impatient. It was just her luck that her record with men so far was an even split of total creeps and 'better as friends', and as much as she joked about loving having AJ as her life partner, if a worthwhile boyfriend didn't come long sooner rather than later, she would probably become resigned to settling down as a cat lady. Was she missing something or had high school just never ended for her?

"You know, Kait, I've been thinking."

Kaitlyn looked up, snapping out of her daydream to pay attention to her friend.

"We've been talking a lot about how much it sucks that we haven't got post-college life figured out yet, right?"

"Yeah, don't remind me."

"Well, what if we just say screw it and throw caution to the wind a little? Big E's got that awesome job of his in Iowa, and me and him have been talking a little and sort of joking about the three of us living together again and living out some sort of weird sitcom life, but... But I kind of thing it sounds like a really good idea."

Kaitlyn frowned.

"Wait. Move to _Iowa_?"

AJ shrugged.

"It's a little different but maybe different's good, y'know? I've been staying with my parents back in Jersey and you're back home with your parents here in Hartford, so maybe we need to get out of our comfort zones a little? It's sort of an obscure kind of place to suddenly up sticks and move to, but who knows what could be waiting there for us?"

Kaitlyn opened her mouth to talk the idea down but stopped herself. AJ was right. Who would ever think of moving to Iowa of all places? Big E had grown up there and been tempted back by a job offer so he had all the excuse in the world, but for AJ and Kaitlyn it would be a total risk of a move. Neither had ever visited the state before, nor did they know much about it. But Kaitlyn knew her options were limited. She had struggled with finding a job in Connecticut as well as in Chicago where she had done her degree. What was there to lose? On the off chance that there _was _something waiting out there in Iowa for her, she couldn't really afford to keep sitting around her family home in her PJs bingeing on television shows and popcorn.

"AJ... This is crazy but I think it's crazy enough to work. God knows I need a way out of Connecticut-"

"And god knows I need a way out of New Jersey."

The two women looked at each other for a moment. Was this really going to happen?

"Oh screw it," Kaitlyn breathed. "Let's do it!"

AJ squealed and the two women jumped around the kitchen, excited not only at the prospect of becoming roommates again, but at the thought of finally being granted some post-graduation hope.

"I'm driving back home tomorrow morning so I think we should call E tonight. He's going to be so excited. He's been acting like he doesn't care that much but I know that he is ridiculously excited about this. Oh my god, we should start looking at job listings and apartments and-"

"Oh my god," Kaitlyn said suddenly, making AJ stop and frown. She had forgotten about the most important thing, or the most important four things, that were keeping her in Hartford to begin with. "The girls. I need to tell the girls."

_So here we have it: here's the girls have got to since college! Which one of the five of their stories are you most intrigued about thus far? What pairings do you see popping up? What pairings would you like to see? What sort of dramas do you envisage for the girlfriends? _

_Questions to think about:_

_-How is Eve going to deal with getting back in touch with her ex, Mike? Will she finally find the SoCal job she wants? Or will life keep in rooted in Connecticut?_

_-What is Maria going to do about the Punk complication? Is this finally her chance to find love? Or is there more waiting around the corner? And will she ever make it back to LA?_

_-Has Kelly's bad luck in love struck for the second time? Just how flawless is Justin Gabriel? And is Miami still in the cards for the couple?_

_-Alicia has struck gold with Wade Barrett and her New York future, but just how long can her fairytale luck last? Will she ever be able to put Wade before her girls?_

_-Kaitlyn's found herself out of luck but will Iowa bring some sunshine? Will she even be brave enough to make the move?_

_Read and Review and let me know your thoughts lovelies! xo_


	7. The Girls and Their Distractions

**7. The Girls and Their Distractions**

"I can't believe I let you convince me to go to the gym with you."

Maria pouted and stepped out of the car, dragging her feet along the ground for emphasis.

"Come on Maria." Eve rolled her eyes, locking the car door and tossing her bag over her shoulder. "You've been texting me non-stop about how bored you are sitting at home, so why not get a nice, invigorating work-out in? We both need the distraction."

"Yeah, because nothing says 'mindless distraction' like an hour at the gym."

"More like an hour and a half."

Maria stared at her friend in horror while Eve grinned and linked her arm through hers, dragging her through the car park despite her protests.

It probably said a lot about the state of Eve's affairs that while bumping into Mike Mizanin at the grocery store the day before was probably the most exciting thing to have taken place in her life post-graduation, the opening of a new gym a short drive away from her home came in as a close second.

"Today's chick day," the Latina said as they entered the _Believers _gym. "We're gonna have a good workout, grab some lunch and then meet up with the others and spend the rest of the day curled up with a ton of junk food, cheesy movies and several bottles of wine. So cheer up chica; I'm sure you can make it through one session at the gym!"

"I know," Maria said with a sigh. "And I'm looking forward to today. But I guess I'm just a little distracted right now..."

Maria's sentence trailed off as she and Eve's attention was turned to the reception desk at almost the exact same time.

"Whoa," Maria breathed, her mouth agape. "Speaking of distractions..."

The most gorgeous man either woman had ever laid eyes on stood by the desk, speaking with the young woman working behind it. He wore a sleeveless shirt, exposing a muscular armful of elaborately designed tattoos laid against light brown, glistening skin. His long mane of dark hair was tied back into a ponytail and his strong jaw line, dotted with stubble, moved in an almost hypnotising fashion as he spoke.

"Lord have mercy," Eve whispered. The two women turned to look at each other and burst into laughter as their eyes met.

"I think I'm starting to get the appeal of going to the gym."

Eve nudged Maria's arm and continued dragging her through the entrance hall, shaking her head as her redheaded friend mimed drooling at the mysterious man who had caused a stir and distraction to their morning.

* * *

Elsewhere, Alicia and Kelly were over at a nearby mall distracting themselves in the one way they knew how; through a little bit of retail therapy.

The night before Alicia had taken Kelly to a late-night diner, plying her endless amounts of ice cream while she listened to her discuss Justin's alleged infidelity, while Alicia herself was still on cloud nine over Wade's marriage proposal. She figured she would keep the news firmly to herself until Kelly's own personal issues were at least semi-resolved, and besides, the news of her move to New York had come as a major shock to the girls, so she could only imagine how revealing her engagement would go down. There was still more than enough time to let them all know before she moved to New York; she would just have to keep her excitement – and diamond ring – hidden away for a while.

"This is pretty cute – right Kells?"

A grinning Alicia held a silk blouse up against her slim figure, turning this way and that to model it to her friend.

"Yeah, I guess," Kelly replied as she continued flicking through a clothing rack. Alicia sighed and put the top down, grabbing hold of Kelly's arm and pulling her over to the seats in the shoe section.

"Kelly, this is ridiculous. We came out this morning to get your mind off of all this stuff with Justin."

Kelly's lip quivered at the mention of his name and Alicia put her head in her hands and groaned.

"Kelly Blank!"

"I'm sorry, Leesh," she sniffed. "I just... I just can't get all of this out of my head. I could barely stand to kiss him last night, or have breakfast with him. I don't know what I'm going to do!"

"Kelly..." Alicia sighed. "At least talk to him. Ask him what the truth is. You're not going to fix anything by avoiding him, or crying every time you hear his name."

Kelly let out another sniffle and nodded.

"I know. You're right Alicia. Have you been talking to Kaitlyn or something? You're starting to sound exactly like her."

The two women laughed and Alicia brought Kelly in for a sympathetic hug.

"Chick night tonight should be fun," Alicia said. "I can assure you that by tonight, Justin and this woman will be the last thing on your mind."

Kelly smiled and nodded.

"You're right. Today is going to be all about the girls so who cares about... _you know_. First thing tomorrow I'm going home and sitting him down and I'm going to get the truth out of him."

Alicia grinned.

"That's my girl! Now let's get out of here before I have no choice but to buy those heels over there – they've been taunting me since the second we walked in!"

* * *

Kaitlyn sighed as she gave AJ one last hug before waving her off into her car and back on the road to New Jersey. It had been a great week with a woman she considered one of her best friends, and now that it was over it was right back to life back home in Connecticut. Still, there were several things coming up for her that served to, at the very least, distract her from right now. First there was the long anticipated chick night with Eve, Maria, Kelly and Alicia that would be the first time in a while that all of them would get together to catch up (or gossip), eat a load of food (or binge on wine) and just have the kind of carefree, silly night that always took place whenever they got together.

And then there was the promise of Kaitlyn and AJ's latest grand scheme; to move to Iowa with Big E. They had tossed the idea around last night, discussing all the practicalities even through their excitement, but the more they thought about – especially after a long Skype conversation with Ettore – the more it became very possible and very plausible. As AJ had predicted, E was over the moon. The three of them had enjoyed a great friendship during college, and all three agreed that being roommates even now that they had graduated was something they had all thought about at some point or another. It worked for everyone. Ettore had his job all lined up, and Kaitlyn and AJ had nothing. Both had struggled to find jobs in their hometowns, and both had eventually agreed that there was no harm packing up and trying elsewhere.

The idea was still in its early stages but all three had a feeling it was bound to happen. It was a big step for Kaitlyn to take. Of course, at this moment she wanted nothing more than to move away from Hartford, Connecticut, but the thought of finally moving back home and quickly being taken away from her girlfriends again was daunting. It was bad enough that Alicia was moving to New York in less than a month. It would probably break Eve, Maria and Kelly's hearts to see Kaitlyn move away so soon too; especially if the three of them were still stuck in Connecticut, struggling to bring their own plans to fruition. Kaitlyn had not expressed this fear to AJ or Big E, knowing the friendship she had with the girls was probably difficult to understand if you weren't part of it, but when AJ suggested they wait a little while and take some time to check out jobs in the area, she had definitely found herself pleased. They had already made plans to drive down to E's hometown in the next few weeks to scope the place out, so no one would feel as if they were rushing into anything.

Now that AJ was gone and Kaitlyn was back at home in her mother's house, she had forced herself to find something productive to do with her morning. For now, a brief run would have to suffice. Within fifteen minutes of AJ leaving, Kaitlyn was already back out on the streets of Hartford, running along the route she had discovered back in high school; taking her through her suburban neighbourhood, past more quiet residential areas, through downtown and even looping around her old high school.

Right from when Kaitlyn was at school, she had loved running. A star on Springfort High's track team, running had been a welcome distraction from her own romantic dramas as well as the breakdown of her parents' marriage. Even to this day, when she found her mind racing, she would thrown on her running shoes and hit the road.

Stopping at the local park that signified the half-way point of her route, Kaitlyn took a seat on a park bench and closed her eyes, soaking in the remnants of the summertime warmth. After giving herself a few minutes to recharge, Kaitlyn stood again to set off, but quickly found herself distracted by the sight of a familiar face.

The blonde man seemed to recognize her too. He was also in running clothes, appearing just as sweaty and high on adrenaline as Kaitlyn was. The two stood a short distance away from each other in the park, as if debating whether or not to approach each other. It was him that made the first move, jogging over to her with a friendly smile.

"Kaitlyn Bonin. Hey."

Dolph Ziggler flashed his signature grin as he came to a stop just before Kaitlyn, towering over her by just a few inches.

"Dolph Ziggler. Wow."

They both began laughing and looked away from each other, before looking back in disbelief.

"Does this feel as weird to you as it does to me?"

Kaitlyn nodded, still giggling hesitantly.

"The last time I saw you me and the girls were sat in Kelly's room making a dartboard out of your yearbook photo."

He laughed.

"Yeah, I guess that's probably the least I deserved."

He looked down at the ground and kicked against the gravel, his dimpled cheeks, still flushed from his run, touching each end of his smiling mouth.

"But I guess that's in the past now," Kaitlyn added quickly. "After all, high school's over, right?"

Dolph nodded in agreement and appreciation.

"Yeah, and thank god for that."

Kaitlyn murmured her agreement and they both returned to looking over at each awkwardly.

"How is Kelly these days?" Dolph asked, trying to cool the tension.

"She's doing great. She's dating this awesome guy she met at college; they're living together here in Hartford, actually."

"That's good to hear. I'm happy for her. If there's anyone who deserves something good it's Kelly Blank."

"She doesn't need your pity, Dolph." Kaitlyn said back quickly, although quickly regretting the malice in her voice soon afterwards.

"Oh, I know. I didn't mean that to come out that way. I guess it's just me trying to convince you I'm not nearly as big a dick as I was in high school."

Kaitlyn cocked her head, looking at him sideways.

"Do you do the same with everyone you bump into from Springfort, or just your exes' friends?"

"I remember you being sharp-tongued," he said in response, "but I definitely don't remember you being funny. Did college make you a qualified comedian?"

"Nope. Just qualified to sniff out bullshit."

The two stared each other down for a moment before bursting into laughter.

"Wow," Dolph said with a sigh. "I hope Kells doesn't still hate me as much as you seem to do."

Kaitlyn shrugged, still grinning at him.

"Trust me, she's moved on. Her new boyfriend is gorgeous. South African, in great shape, a total gentleman..."

"So everything I'm not, excluding being gorgeous and in great shape?"

Dolph smirked, enjoying the feel of Kaitlyn's eyes quickly dart downwards to check out his undeniably 'gorgeous' body.

"Good to know college didn't treat you humility," she muttered, looking down at the ground.

"Hey – I'm just kidding. But on the off chance you agree, I'd love to take you out to dinner sometime."

Kaitlyn's jaw dropped, struggling to believe what she had just heard. Dolph Ziggler really had some nerve. He kept eyeing her, still smirking as he tried to scope out her reaction.

"Yeah," she said finally. "That is definitely never going to happen."

He shrugged, to her surprise.

"Well, I tried. I guess I'll let you get back to your run."

She nodded and started to walk away from him, still frowning to herself.

"You're looking great, by the way," he called out to her. In response to her stopping in her tracks, he continued. "College did you wonders."

Rolling her eyes she set off on a light jog, eventually transitioning back into her usual running pace as soon as she hit the sidewalk again.

_"Dolph Ziggler has got some nerve_," she thought to herself as she continued her run, and later when she had returned home and got into the shower.

* * *

By the time the girls had all gathered in Eve's house – which her parents had graciously left to her for the evening – the drinks and conversation had begun pouring instantly. Maria had curled up on the sofa with Kelly and Alicia, already recounting to them the story of the mysterious, handsome man she and Eve had encountered in the gym earlier. Eve, coming out of the kitchen with a collection of glasses, rolled her eyes as an eruption of giggles burst out of the three.

"Has she told you guys about the part where she went over and spoke to him and asked his name? Oh yeah, she didn't."

Maria poked her tongue out at Eve in protest.

"This is Maria we're talking about," Kaitlyn chimed in as she entered the living with the pizza she had just collected. "If she's crushing on someone there's _definitely _no way she'll even dare breathe in their presence."

"Aw, don't be so mean guys!" Alicia stroked the top of Maria's head, giggling at the pout on her face. "This is adult Maria we're talking about; if she wants it she goes after it, right?"

"Of course," Maria nodded, defending herself. "Next time we go to the gym I'll talk to him."

Eve snorted.

"What do you mean, 'next time?" This morning I had to practically drag you out of bed to get you to go to the gym."

"Yeah, but now that she wants to drag hot guy of the week _into _bed..."

Kaitlyn's jokes were stopped by Maria darting a cushion in her direction.

"Guys! I don't get why you still think I'm the same loser I was in high school. I mean, yeah, I don't have the best record with men, but you'll never guess who I bumped into at _Call It Classic_ yesterday? _Phil Brooks_! It's like a sign! I'm going to go for it for real this time and I'm going to get it right, I promise you guys that."

The other four women gaped at Maria's big reveal.

"Oh my god!" Kelly breathed, shaking Maria in excitement. "That's crazy! I thought he moved to Chicago!"

"I don't know, but he's still in Hartford, which means I _have _to make a move."

Kelly, always the romantic, couldn't help but swoon at Maria's story.

"I read something once that said something about people coming in and out of your life being like a sign of destiny. I mean, what are the odds that you bump into Punk now of all times, all these years later?"

Kelly and Maria squealed while Eve and Kaitlyn shared a knowing-but-not-really glance.

"Well, you moved on from the gym buff pretty quickly," Eve joked, trying to change the subject.

"Come on Eve, we can't play around with destiny," Alicia said, pouring herself a glass of wine.

"Easy enough for you to say, Miss 'moving to New York with the man of my dreams'," Maria joked.

Alicia shrugged and took a sip out of her glass, smirking as she did so.

"You know what's funny though?" Kaitlyn stretched out across the beanbag on the floor, picking up her own glass. "I remember years ago, right before we graduated from high school, we joked that as long as Alicia's found her future husband by the end of college, we'll all be fine. So if we're talking about destiny, you don't have anything to worry about Maria."

Maria gave a satisfied grin as Alicia blushed.

"Two out of five isn't bad," Eve added. "At least Alicia and Kelly have got their dream men nailed."

Kelly remained quiet, nervously sipping her wine as Alicia watched her out of concern.

"Okay," she said, again diverting the subject. "Can we leave your depressing love lives alone now so we can drink, eat and be merry?"

The others agreed and started passing pizza boxes and wine bottles around. After a while Kaitlyn excused herself and went to the kitchen, under the guise of retrieving a fresh bottle of wine. Frowning as she watched her, Eve also got up and went to the kitchen.

"So," Eve said from behind Kaitlyn, making her jump. "Are you going to tell me what's wrong?"

Kaitlyn sighed and took a seat at the kitchen island. Eve followed, doing the same.

"Do you really believe that stuff that Kelly and Maria were saying? Like, do you think Maria should take running into Punk as a sign or something?"

"You can't ever really know these things," Eve said with a sigh of her own. "It is some weird, crazy luck that she ran into him like that, but we both know what Maria's like. I love that girl like a sister but she is so headstrong and impulsive that you can't ever really know what's going on in that head."

"What would you do if you were to run into an old face from high school at this point? Someone who you sort of know you aren't ready to see in the flesh just yet, even after all these years."

"Well, I'd probably cough and splutter trying to talk to them and then somehow find myself accepting a lunch invitation from them."

"That was oddly specific."

Eve gave a wry smile and drank from her glass.

"I guess me and Maria have in common recently bumping into our high school ghosts."

Kaitlyn's eyes widened in shock.

"No way. Who?!"

"The awesome one himself."

Kaitlyn snorted.

"Oh god, of course. I bet he must think he's such a big shot now. Does he still spike up his hair? And please don't tell me he was wearing a fedora..."

"No, he actually looked pretty... normal. Like, a decent adult man. He looked pretty good, if I'm being honest."

"No way, Evie. Don't tell me those feelings are coming back."

"No! Not at all. Yeah, we're going out to lunch, but just as friends. He was really nice and just so different when I saw him yesterday. And besides, he supposedly has a super hot girlfriend now, so..."

Kaitlyn shook her head in disbelief.

"People can change, Kait. We're not in high school anymore."

"I'll believe it when I see it," she muttered under her breath.

"So come on, your turn," Eve said, folding her arms across her chest. "Who is it that you bumped into?"

"How do you know I bumped into someone?"

"You wouldn't have brought all this up if you didn't. Let me guess, Derrick Bateman? Oh, better yet, Johnny Curtis?"

Eve's grin faded as a grimace spread across Kaitlyn's face.

"Even worse. D-"

"Hey guys!"

Kelly bounced into the kitchen, stopping Kaitlyn dead in her tracks. She cleared her throat and looked up at her friend with a warm smile.

"Hey Kells," Eve said. "You want a refill?"

Holding up the bottle of wine, Eve stood and beamed at Kelly. Kelly shook her head 'no'.

"No, I'm good. We were just wondering where you guys got to; we're about to put on _Bridget Jones_."

"Oh, awesome! We just got to gossiping a little."

Kelly nodded with a smile and went to leave the kitchen. Eve and Kaitlyn followed behind, as Eve shot Kaitlyn the '_You better tell me later'_ look. Kaitlyn gave an unsure shrug, heading back to the living room with her friends.

Alicia and Maria were still sat on the sofa, Maria's head resting on Alicia's shoulder. Kelly returned to her spot beside them, while Eve and Kaitlyn took to the floor in front of the sofa.

As they all settled in to watch the movie, each of them were still half focussed on the various things causing their minds to race. Kaitlyn, Eve and Maria were all still stewing over the earlier discussion the girls had had about that magic word; destiny. All three girls had, in the past couple of days, been forced to come face to face with the past, no matter how much they had found to keep them rooted in the present _and _the future. It was killing Kelly to not be open with her friends about her relationship, but she just couldn't bring herself to admit that she may be heading to the worst; whereas even Alicia, who was preparing to enter her own exciting future, felt the same anxious energy as her friends. Needless to say, for all five women, there was something rather comforting about watching Bridget Jones's misfortune in love play out on screen on a night like tonight.


	8. Eve and the Love Deserved

_Hey guys! Thanks so much to everyone who has been reading and reviewing. Chapter 8 already! I just thought I'd quickly post something that would clear up a couple of questions I've been getting:_

_First, I'm intentionally making pairings unclear. My story is first and foremost focused on the five girls and their lives, so naturally romantic interests will float in and out of them. Obviously the pairings that have already been made clear are Kelly/Justin and Alicia/Wade, but Eve, Maria and Kaitlyn all remain single so who knows what could happen! I sort of want this story to be a slow burn, so their romantic lives could take a while to take off; which is where the fun and intrigue lies! As I've said before, we'll see some names like Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, and Cody Rhodes added to the story soon, on top of Wade Barrett, Justin Gabriel, CM Punk, The Miz, Big E Langston and Dolph Ziggler who have already been thrown into the mix, so get excited, guys! _

_Also, the structure of the story is pretty set: each of the girls will have a chapter about their individual lives and then it will all be brought together in the following 'Girls' chapter. So far we've sort of got through the first round of Eve-Maria-Kelly-Alicia-Kaitlyn-Girls so I hope this structure is clear and working for everyone! I h__ope you enjoy this next chapter as it will be the starting point for some of the drama that will be kicking off in the next few. __xo_

**8. Eve and the Love Deserved**

Eve Torres took one last look at herself in the reflection of her car window, smoothing down her skirt and readjusting her hair. Her brunette locks were the longest they'd ever been, and even though she'd spent most of her adolescence praying for this length, a part of her was ready to just snip it short and be done with it. Today it hung in loose waves over her shoulders, framing her bust in the button up shirt she had on.

With one last nod, Eve walked across the sidewalk to _Treaty Pie_, the local diner she remembered frequenting throughout high school; most notably while on dates with Mike Mizanin. She hadn't been back in years, not since high school, and stepping through its front doors she could see that it hadn't changed a bit. The rustic decor was easily recognizable, from the wooden panelling on the walls to the homely signs of welcome throughout. Even the waitress who stood speaking to Mike as he sat at a table in the corner seemed familiar.

"Eve!"

She smiled politely as Mike noticed her, waving her over. He was now alone, again dressed up in a shirt and slacks, grinning at her as she approached. He stood to greet her, pulling her in for a hug.

"You look great," he said as they sat at the table.

"Thanks Mike. So do you."

"Can you believe this place?" He said as he looked around the busy diner. "It still looks exactly the same as it did back in high school. That waitress over there recognized me and everything. I'm sure she was working here that day when I took you here on our first date; there's no way she'd forget that jittery kid trying to look impressive in front of this gorgeous girl."

Eve gave a wry smile, no wanting to get as invested in this walk down memory lane as he seemed to be.

"Man, that was so long ago," he said finally, sighing and leaning back in his chair. "I never would have thought back then that one day we'd be sat here again, under these circumstances."

"What circumstances?" She asked suddenly, leaning forward slightly.

"I don't know," he shrugged. "As adults, able to be civil with each other after everything that went down between us."

"When you say 'everything that went down' do you mean that time you used me and our sex life as a way to get cred from your boys?"

He cleared his throat and shifted in his seat, looking down at his hands to avoid her gaze. Eve took a deep breath.

"Sorry," she said quietly. "I guess all that stuff is still pretty fresh in my mind."

"I don't blame you for hating me. To be honest, I didn't even expect you to come out to lunch with me today. I know I don't deserve your time."

She sighed heavily.

"I don't hate you, Mike. You just never really get over your first heartbreak, do you?"

"No, I guess not."

They were both silent for a while as another waitress came along to take their orders. They ordered quickly and the waitress was sent away again, leaving the two alone again; staring each other down.

"I'm still really sorry," Mike said suddenly. "I've never forgiven myself for the way I treated you. You deserved better but I'm sure you already know that."

Eve nodded graciously, and then out of the blue began laughing quietly to herself. Mike frowned.

"Oh my god, what's that really cheesy quote from that _Wallflower _movie, the one with Ezra Miller? I'm sure I read that book back in school and totally thought it was the most profound thing. Something like _'we accept the love we think we deserve'_. After we broke up I re-read that book and sobbed as soon as I got to that line. Pretty pathetic, right?"

"You were always the clever, book-y one," he replied with a grin. "That's a pretty cool quote though. I get it. Sort of explains why you put up with my sorry ass for so long!"

She laughed, finally allowing her posture to loosen up.

"Nah, it wasn't all that bad. I could have done without the hair and the catchphrases and the _awful _clothes but..."

"Ouch, Eve, don't hold back!"

Each caught the other's eye and held their gaze there for a moment, before dropping it again.

"You know, you never told me what you're getting up to these days."

Eve shrugged in response.

"I guess you could say I'm... waiting."

"Waiting for what?"

"For something substantial. I've moved back home to my parents' house because I couldn't find a job, so I basically spend my days working out or filling out job application after job application. Or, of course, painting my toenails and drinking wine with the girls."

Mike laughed.

"By 'the girls', do you mean Kelly and them?"

Eve nodded proudly.

"I would say I'm surprised that you guys are just as tight as you were back then, but then again, I don't think I am. You always had this weird relationship type thing going on, even when we were dating."

Eve smiled and began picking at the lettuce on the plate that had just been placed in front of her.

"They're family. It sucks being back home and jobless but I'm so thankful that I have them here, at least for the time being. Alicia's about to move away to New York with her boyfriend, Maria and Kelly are looking for work out of state and Kaitlyn's been rumbling about getting out of Connecticut as soon as possible. So I don't really know what the future holds, but for now we've kind of got some solidarity going on."

"What about you?"

Eve frowned. "What about me?"

"Well, what do _you _want to do? Do you plan on staying in Hartford?"

"I don't really know," she admitted. "I guess more than anything I just want a job. But I loved going to school in California and it would be such a dream to move back there, but I just don't know. I still don't think I've decided what I want to be when I grow up, but hey, that's an English Literature major for you."

"Honestly, Eve, where you're at right now is great. This fresh out of college thing is great because it's so liberating. You could literally throw a dart at a map and making the choice to move to any state or city you want. So why not?"

"Because the thought of doing that is terrifying!"

Mike shook his head.

"You're way too smart and way too talented to think like that. You talk about accepting the love you deserve, well, what's wrong with taking the life you deserve?"

She remained quiet, reflecting on his words.

"I'm moving to LA," he said suddenly, making her snap to attention, gaping at him in shock.

"For good you mean?"

He nodded. "I've been offered the job I've been working towards for years. Maryse is getting a work visa soon and once she does, we're going to find an apartment to rent out and make the move down there. That's where we both want to be, so bad. We've been talking about all sorts of things; marriage, starting a family, maybe even some sort of business. I love Connecticut, but my dreams are way too big for this place."

Eve let out a dry laugh. Mike would say those same words constantly during high school, and now his persistence had finally paid off.

"I'm so happy for you!" She managed to choke out. "That's amazing. When are you making the move?"

"Within the next couple of months, if all goes to plan."

"That's great. So awesome, Mike."

"I think you should do the same, Evie."

"What, move to LA? I think I'll leave that to Maria," she giggled.

"No, I mean you should find _your _LA. Whether it's a place or a job or just some sort of plan, I think you should find it and go for it."

Eve sighed. "I wish it were that easy, Mike."

"Hey, since when were you a cynic?"

She shrugged and Mike gave her a sad smile.

"How would you like to go to a party this weekend?"

She looked up at him and frowned.

"Huh?"

"I've got this friend who works in business and stuff like that; he's this young guy who graduated a couple years before me but he's crazy successful. He moves around a lot and is in Hartford for a little while; he just opened a gym downtown and everything. Maryse and I have been working with him and his franchise stuff, and he's throwing a launch party this weekend; 'Ryse is flying in for it and everything. It should be a lot of fun; maybe even give you the chance to meet some people, maybe network a little? You can bring your girls along too, I'll put you all on the guest list."

"Is this your way of showing how sorry for me you feel?"

He laughed. "No, Eve. I don't feel sorry for you. You're a friend and I just want to do anything I can to help you out. Come to this party; let your hair down."

Reluctantly, Eve agreed.

"Awesome! Uh, sorry," He added, noticing the grimace on her face. "Hey, you know, I've been talking about Maryse non-stop and I haven't even asked you about your love life. We've already covered all the boring stuff, we might as well talk about that!"

Eve groaned and sipped her glass of ice water, half-wishing it was alcoholic.

"Ugh. How about we don't?"


	9. Maria and the Love Planned

**Chapter 9: Maria and the Love Planned**

Maria Kanellis was an adult. And adults had plans. So when Maria had left her house this morning and drove back to the _Believers _gym, she had a plan in mind.

Not being the most enthused of gym-goers, Maria had spent over an hour picking out her outfit that morning; finally deciding on a bright pink sports bra and a pair of black yoga pants, tying her hair up in a bun on the top of her head and lightly dotting her face with concealer to finish the look. She could practically hear Eve rolling her eyes over the phone as she called her to reveal her plan. Eve had, of course, been the supportive friend, but Maria could tell that she didn't take her seriously at all; just like Kaitlyn the night before.

But today would be different, because while the old Maria was no good at plans, the new grown-up Maria _was_. And she was fearless. She breathed in and out and reminded herself of this as she stepped through the front doors of the swanky new gym, quickly scanning the area to see if the mysterious, handsome man from yesterday would appear again. All she had to do was find him, strike up a conversation and leave with his phone number. It was easy. She had done it before and she was sure she could do it again. If she could do this and get back on the wagon by eventually going on – at the very least – a date with him, she would be able to convince herself to try her luck with Punk the next time she bumped into him.

There was no sign of the man, but Maria headed over to the reception desk with a grin.

"Hi," her perky voice called out.

"Hello there, and welcome to _Believers_. Can I help you with anything today?"

"I'd like a membership to the gym please."

Maria nodded and grinned along as the friendly receptionist handed her paperwork and let her know all the essential details. Maria seemed to be in so much of a daze as she filled in forms and chatted with the woman behind the desk that she barely noticed when the man from the day before walked through reception, this time flanked by a friend. Her breath hitched in her throat as she watched the two enter the main weights room out of the corner of her eye. She was practically bouncing up and down as the receptionist finished off her membership details and welcomed her to the gym.

Clearing her throat and trying to regain her composure, Maria thanked the woman and headed to the weights room. She was glad that Eve had signed her up for an induction yesterday, as she was able to walk straight into the room like she knew what she was doing.

Strolling casually over to a small set of weights, Maria was able to keep her eye on the man over on the other side of the gym, working out with his friend. Trying to visualize what Eve had taught her yesterday, she got into working out, feeling like a fool, but working out nonetheless.

She couldn't help but notice just how hot he was. She practically had to stop herself from drooling as his veins stuck out of almost every part of his body in concentration; his skin glistening from sweat. She barely even noticed herself dropping her set of weights only inches away from her feet.

"Shit!" She cried out, turning red in embarrassment as she realized just how loud she was being. She looked over at the man, thankful that his headphones prevented him from noticing her.

"If you wanna get buff, dropping those baby weights all over the place is no way to go about it."

Maria jumped at the sound of the voice standing above her. She gasped as she recognized him as the gym-babe's friend. She cleared her throat and stood quickly.

"If I'm being honest, I'm pretty new to this."

The new man smirked, placing his hands on his hips. The look on his face told Maria that he saw through her in an instant. The look of amusement still on his face, he bent to pick up the weights and returned them to their station.

"Here for Roman, right?"

"Who?"

He gestured over towards the man lifting weights across the room.

"My buddy, Roman. Trust me, you're definitely not the first girl to trip over herself in the gym, drooling after him."

Maria blushed in embarrassment.

"I wasn't... Okay, maybe a little."

He laughed and for the first time Maria noticed the dimples in his cheeks and the twinkle in his bright blue eyes. His hair was floppy and a dirty blonde sort of colour, slightly dampened by sweat. This new mystery man was no Roman, but Maria had to admit that he was pretty good looking.

"Honesty. I like that."

"Do you think Roman will too?" She said with a giggle.

He shrugged. "Who knows. Can't hurt to try, right? Anyway, as interesting as Roman is, I came over to see if you're okay. Those weights came down pretty hard."

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm pretty useless when it comes to exercise, although you probably couldn't tell from the look of this bod."

She began holding up her biceps and poorly executing other bodybuilding poses, making the blonde man laugh again.

"Not quite, but almost."

She gave him a hurt look.

"That's so rude! As if you can do better."

Maria was instantly shut up by him casually flexing the muscles in his own large arms, all the while keeping them folded across his chest.

"Whatever," she giggled.

"For real though, would you like some help with... whatever you're doing? Today's my day off but I'm always game to help someone in need."

"Oh... you work here?"

He nodded. "Yeah, short-term as a favour for a friend. And yeah, Roman works here too," he added, noticing her eyes quickly flicker back towards the larger man.

"I wasn't-" He raised his eyebrows and smirked. "Okay, maybe I was a little."

She eyed him quickly, trying to figure out what his intentions were.

"Thanks for the offer..." she paused, realizing she didn't know his name.

"Dean."

"Dean," she confirmed with a nod. "Thanks but I might just go hit the treadmill in the room next door. Better than embarrassing myself over here with these baby weights," she added with a wink, repeating his words.

Dean gave a shrug.

"Sure. But if you do ever want to learn a thing or two, you know where to find me."

"Thank you, Dean. That's very nice of you. I'm Maria by the way. It was nice meeting you."

"You too." With one last friendly smile he turned and went back over to Roman, who was now releasing his weights and taking his headphones off. She tried to watch a little more discreetly, hoping to God that the quiet exchange of laughter taking place between them had nothing to do with. For a second she visualised Dean and Roman pointing and laughing in her direction and felt ready to melt into the floor. Thankfully they both returned to working out fairly quickly, leaving Maria to grab her bag and sheepishly head out and to the cardio room next door. She may not have known the slightest thing about weightlifting, but she was pretty sure she could run on a treadmill for a while.

Eventually her speedy pace became rather relaxing. Maria had shot Eve the dirtiest of looks the day before when she had tried to explain how much peace she found in working out, but she was now sort of beginning to understand where she was coming from. Plus, it was just more time to think about the gorgeous mystery man who now had a name – Roman – and the beginnings of a story – he worked at the gym. Just his name alone was to die for. If his friend hadn't turned up and crashed the party she _so _would have spoken to him. It wasn't too late though, at least. Now that she knew he worked at the gym, and now that she had her membership, she had a good feeling they'd be bumping into each other on a very regular basis.

_"__Just one date," _she muttered to herself. _"One date and Eve and Kaitlyn would be proven wrong, for good."_

After some time Maria brought the machine to a standstill and hopped off; grinning to herself at the feel of sweat dripping down her body. She may have come to the gym with an ulterior motive, but this thirty minute run was probably the most productive she'd been in weeks. As she wandered back into the main entrance, she once again stumbled across Roman, who was leaned against a wall speaking on the phone. Maria took a deep breath and advanced.

Taking what felt like the longest walk along the foyer, she began rehearsing her approach. 'Hey' was far too casual. Not even a 'hi' would do the trick. She'd have to add an 'oh', or something that made it look like she had just accidentally but possible sort of on purpose bumped into him...

For the second time today, she very nearly lost her bearings as her phone began ringing in her hand.

"Eve!" She said in a hushed yet stern voice. "Now isn't the best time-"

"Sorry Maria, but considering you _were _supposed to meet me at the mall about fifteen minutes ago..."

"Shit. Sorry Evie! I'll be there as soon as possible."

"Maria, please tell me you're not still trying to..."

"Bye Evie!"

She quickly hung up the phone and turned back around, her heart sinking at the empty space where Roman stood just a few seconds ago.

"God damn it," she groaned in exasperation. "Just perfect. Can I not just have one day where everything goes to plan? Just one?"

She turned around and shoved her phone into her bag. Looking up again as she headed towards the exit, she felt her luck change in an instant.

"Punk?" She gasped, her eyes opening wide in embarrassment as she realized she had said it out loud. "_I have got to stop talking to myself."_

He looked up quickly at the sound of his nickname, frowning as he laid eyes on a doe-eyed Maria.

"Uh... yeah?"

She felt like she was about to throw up. He didn't even recognize her.

"Um... Sorry, never mind," she bowed her head and rushed out of the door, unaware that he was following.

"Hold on a sec – Maria, right?"

She stopped suddenly and spun around.

"You recognize me?"

"Yeah... Yeah." Punk flashed Maria a warm smile. "It took me a second because you look pretty different, especially with the red hair, but yeah, I recognize you. Maria Kanellis. You sat behind me in Math class for years."

She beamed.

"Oh my god! This is so weird. I can't believe I'm bumping into you like this!" She struggled to hide the excitement in her voice.

"Yeah it is, talk about a blast from the past."

She nodded, desperately racking her brain for something semi-cool to say.

"You look really good," she said quickly and suddenly, cursing herself immediately after doing so.

"Thank you," Punk replied with a chuckle. "You do too."

She blushed, feeling as if her entire body was on fire. She then felt her phone buzz again in her bag and was brought abruptly back to reality.

"Um, I'm really sorry but I have to go. I'm supposed to be meeting a friend in... twenty minutes ago."

Punk laughed.

"Yeah, sure. Maria, wait a second," he reached out to grab her arm as she was turning to rush away. Fire, again.

"Yeah?" She croaked.

"I know we may not have known each other that well back in high school, but I always thought you were pretty cool. Would you maybe wanna hang out sometime? Go out to dinner or something? I mean, it'd be pretty silly not to take advantage of running into each other like this."

She nodded, grinning like a madwoman.

"I would love to!"

Barely able to contain herself, she exchanged numbers with him.

"Awesome. It was really cool bumping into you today. I can't wait to hang out again sometime."

"Yeah... me too. Okay, I really should go now. Bye Punk!"

Maria realized how ridiculous she must have looked power walking back to her car, but she just couldn't help it. She felt ready to break into song and dance, in her mind visualising the incredible movie montage that would be taking place right about now. Her entire thought process as she drove to the mall was in exclamation marks. How on earth did she manage to get so lucky?! Kelly was definitely right about destiny and seeing signs. What other signs did she need? She had just failed in her – albeit meagre – attempts with Roman Reigns, all so Phil Brooks could once again fall right into her lap. Although her Plan A may have fallen through today, for once she was pretty damn happy about this spontaneous Plan B.

_"__Eve and Kaitlyn are so going to be kicking themselves."_


	10. Kelly and the Love Lost

**10. Kelly and the Love Lost**

Kelly Blank, like Maria, had woken up this morning with a plan. Today would be the day where she would confront Justin, about his lies and about the new woman in his life. This time, it would be nothing like her experiences with Dolph back in high school. She wouldn't break down in front of him and allow herself to splutter and cry at his feet. She'd look him straight in the eye and maintain her composure and _he _would be the one to crumble as he confessed his infidelity. Then she'd turn around and walk straight out of the door and never look back. It was a totally foolproof plan.

Her eyes fluttered open and she turned over to find Justin's side of the bed already empty. Taking a deep breath, she rolled out of bed and padded over to the bathroom to freshen up. She stood in front of the sink, splashing water over her face and giving herself a quiet pep talk in the mirror. If he wasn't out on a morning jog, he'd either be in the kitchen making breakfast or out on the balcony doing yoga.

Kelly left the bathroom to walk calmly to the empty living room area. Wanting to avoid calling his name out, she peered around and noticed the door to the balcony was ajar; the curtain blowing in the wind. As she crept close she could hear the hushed tones of what sounded like him on the phone. Who would be calling this early in the morning? His mistress, probably.

She decided to allow him to finish his conversation, instead heading over to the kitchen so that she could busy herself. She began clattering around, admittedly louder than she needed to. She kept her attention focused on the bowl of cereal in front of her even as Justin wandered back into the room a few minutes later.

"Morning Kelly," he said quietly. His voice seemed much more muted, sadder even, than it usually was.

"Good morning Justin," she replied, barely looking up.

She was slightly taken aback when he approached suddenly, taking her hand in his and bringing it up to his face; stroking and kissing it softly.

"Justin? Justin, what's wrong?"

Her hand dampened as tears rolled down Justin's face. Suddenly Kelly took both of his hands into hers and gazed into his eyes; her own lips quivering at the sight of the pain evident in his face. In an instant her love for her boyfriend overtook her own anger and heartbreak.

"For some reason I've always seen myself as invincible," he said quietly. "I know it's silly, especially with the kind of lifestyle I lead, but I've just..."

"Justin, please tell me what's happened. Is this to do with that phone call?"

"Me and my friends from back home would always joke that we were going to live forever. Ridiculous, right? We'd dive into the ocean and then laugh it off like nothing. I've told you about my crew, right? Paul, Leo, Jolie, Ann and Todd. They're like your girls; we just have this tight bond and we've always been inseparable. Jolie gave me a place to stay for months after my dad died while I was in high school and all six of us just looked out for each other unconditionally; even after I moved to America for college. God... if you think I'm crazy you should see them."

He laughed and wiped his face with the back of his hand.

"We sort of all made this pact to never stop living every day as if it's our last. I guess that drives us to take risks with our lives but..."

Kelly cupped his face in her hands, wiping away the fresh bout of tears with her thumbs.

"Justin..."

"I was only an infant when my mother died so I never really had that sense of losing her. When I lost my dad it broke my heart. My friends all loved him too; he was sort of like our den mother or something. He'd take everyone in and feed them, invite us all to his wrestling shows, just give us the chance to experience really cool things. Losing him was the one big push I needed to truly discover the courage to go out and live life. He got really sick in the last couple of years of his life so it was like watching him fade away right before my eyes. I was expecting the end but I just never really imagined it would come. You just don't bargain for these things, do you? The day he died I vowed to move over here and go to school and just never look back. And I haven't yet."

His tear-filled brown eyes met hers and he clutched onto her hands tighter.

"My best friend Paul died today."

Kelly's breath hitched in her throat and she stared at Justin, stunned as he began to sob in her arms.

"He and Jolie were driving to the airport, getting ready to go on vacation in Bali. We don't really know what happened yet but the official report says a drunk driver came out of nowhere and ran them right off the road. Jolie survived; she's in pretty bad condition but she's in the hospital now and Leo says that the doctors are expecting her to pull through. Paul died instantly. Just the thought of it makes me feel sick to my stomach... someone so young and so full of life, just having it taken away in a matter of seconds. Taken away as a result of somebody else's bad decisions. Just the thought of him lying there while the driver of the other car is able to just walk away with his life still intact..."

He choked out another sob and Kelly held on to him, pulling him closer.

"It's not fair, Kelly. It's just not fair. People like him, people like us, we're supposed to live forever, you know? We're supposed to live and die on our own terms. That's what we've always told ourselves..."

"It's okay baby." Kelly rocked with him, speaking quietly. "I know it's not fair. He didn't deserve that; nobody does. I'm so, so sorry for your loss."

They remained there in the kitchen, sharing a profound, tearful silence. After some time he looked up at her, taking several deep breaths.

"I've never really known what it's like to watch a life be snatched away so suddenly. I've watched my father die over a period of years, but I've just never had to wake up one morning accepting your life as it is just to have it changed so suddenly by the morning."

Kelly nodded, stroking his hands supportively. His eyes met hers again and he gave her a small smile. Through her own tears she tried to smile back as warmly as she could.

"When I was on the phone with Leo just now, we got to talking about our lives and where we're both at. He's in a serious relationship with a woman he's been with since high school. I've told him about you before but we got to talking again today, about you and about his girlfriend, and I realized something, Kells. I realized that my method of carefree living has always been about taking risks and chances and not being afraid of the unknown, but in the midst of all of that I never realized that deciding to be with you is the most terrifying thing I've ever done. I can go dirt-biking without even blinking, but the day I asked you to be my girlfriend I remember sweating and shaking so bad. Then when I told you I loved you I felt like I was gonna throw up.

"Kelly, you are dirt biking and rock climbing and deep sea diving and bungee jumping put together. Every time I wake up next to you I know that I'm truly living my life the way it's supposed to be lived. I believe that if Paul and my dad could see me now and see how lucky am I to have found you, they would feel the exact same way. I know I've made my mistakes in our relationship but I don't want this to end, Kelly. I need you in my life so bad and I can't believe that I'm only just realizing this. I'm so grateful and thankful that on a day like today, God has allowed me to find comfort in your arms when I could be lying on a beach in Florida. I know your faith isn't as strong as mine, and you know that I respect that, but I truly believe that it is His plan that has us here together, and not elsewhere; even if what the both of us originally wanted was to be there."

"Oh Justin..." she whispered through her tears, at a total loss for words.

"I want you to forgive me for all my shortcomings and believe me when I say that I'm going to make up for every single one of them."

"What shortcomings?" She said quietly, wiping her face.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"I've made you so many promises but I haven't been able to follow through with them." Kelly frowned. "I promised you this wonderful, amazing life in Miami, yet here we are. I know it's still uncertain what the future may hold, but I have faith, Kelly. I know great things are coming our way and I know that neither of us are ever going to stop working for them. We're going to make the move as soon as we can and if nothing else, I can promise you wholeheartedly that I will love you unconditionally, regardless of where this universe takes us. Hartford, Miami... hell, even Alaska."

Kelly giggled.

"Okay, maybe not Alaska. But you get the gist."

She nodded tearfully.

"I'm so sorry that you had to lose someone like you did today. But I'm still here for you and I will do everything I can to make this easier for you. I love you Justin."

The silence returned as each drew the other closer again and they shared an intimate, passionate kiss. When they eventually pulled away their foreheads remained pressed to each other. This closeness made them look into each other's eyes and laugh quietly, despite the circumstances. After another brief kiss, Justin excused himself and went to the bathroom to get himself together, leaving Kelly sat in the kitchen alone, still reeling. Like Justin had said earlier, she couldn't believe how quickly the tide had turned in a matter of minutes. She had gotten out of bed that morning ready to leave the man she believed had broken her trust, and now she couldn't imagine even being away from him today. After the incident a couple of days earlier, Kelly had experienced a heartbreak that she believed akin to losing the love of her life; now that she had watched the carefree, energetic and full of life Justin Gabriel break down after truly losing a loved one for the third time in his life, she could not believe how easily and carelessly she had been prepared to just walk away from love.

Justin needed Kelly and Kelly needed Justin; today more so than ever. The current saga was far from over, and Kelly knew that she would eventually have no choice but to confront him about what she had seen. But for now all he needed from her was her support and love as he grieved for his lost friend. When it came down to it, this type of love was not the glamorous and romantic kind she and her friends would gush over in movies and wish to find themselves one day, but the kind that took years of patience, tenderness and hard work to build, and much more than a sneaky suspicion to break. As Kelly ushered Justin back into their bedroom a few minutes later and lay holding him in her arms, she knew fully that this was the exact kind of love the two shared.


	11. Alicia and the Love Interrupted

**Chapter 11: Alicia and the Love Interrupted**

Alicia sighed dreamily as she gazed at her laptop screen, flicking through photos of the New York apartment she and Wade had chosen as their first home. It was one of the many suggested to Wade by his company, placing them right in the bustling centre of Manhattan; surrounding by Wade's world of business and finance and Alicia's world of fashion. Alicia had been won over by the sizeable closet space in their master bedroom and the spacious living area that the apartment offered and was ready to sign the lease within five minutes of seeing it. Wade had been more practical, taking a close look at the neighbourhood surrounding it, transport links, money matters and so on but eventually Alicia's gut feeling had gotten him on board, too. In a month's time they would be making the move and Alicia's dream apartment would no longer be just a selection of photographs on a computer screen.

After some time, she was finally able to bring herself to shut the laptop and put it back on her desk, before stretching out comfortably on her bed. Today was going to be her and Wade's day. She had spent the past couple of days with her girlfriends, finding herself occupied with Kelly's personal problems, and today she had vowed to devote all of her energy to her fiancé. Staring at the sparkling ring on her finger, she grinned to herself. Fiancé. It had a hell of a ring to it. The only people so far she had been able to share the news with were her parents, who were over the moon that their only daughter was about to marry a man who was not only sweet, kind and generous, but also highly ambitious and driven; about to enter into one of the most lucrative careers in the world.

Wade was currently in another room in the middle of a Skype meeting. Most of Alicia's most treasured belongings were already packed into bags and boxes, making her room feel strangely bare. As she had told Wade a couple of nights before, her bedroom was covered in memories; and now it would also serve as the place where her future husband had made his proposal. It was a bizarre sort of full circle moment that the same spot where she would read romantic novels or watch romantic movies and dream about her own romantic future would end up being the place where her so-called romance would truly begin.

The couple had plans to make the drive from Hartford to Greenwich and have a sort of mini-vacation for a couple of days; both as a tourist experience for Wade and a brief moment of total privacy for the two in one of the city's swankest hotels. They were to set off later in the afternoon to make the hour and a half drive to Greenwich, leaving more than enough time to go out for an engagement celebration dinner and head back to the hotel for the evening ahead.

"You're looking pretty chuffed with yourself."

Alicia sat up in bed and looked over at Wade as he entered the room, her wide smile not once leaving her face.

"That's because I am, silly!"

Wade chuckled and took a seat on the edge of the bed, leaning down to kiss his fiancée.

"Are you all packed?" He asked, scanning the room. She nodded and gestured over to a small suitcase over in the corner of the room. "Great. I'm quite excited to see Greenwich. I've heard it's a pretty affluent place; who knows what kind of people we could potentially bump into over those two days?"

Alicia rolled her eyes. "Wade, we're not going for business."

"Of course, of course. This trip is all pleasant, right?" He smirked and tried to kiss Alicia again, but she ducked out of the way.

"I mean it Wade! Can we please just have this trip as a couple of days for us to enjoy ourselves and celebrate getting engaged? And not think about work or business or anyone else..."

"I know, Alicia. That's what we're going to do."

"Pinky swear?"

Rolling his own eyes, Wade played along with her game.

"Pinky swear."

He swung his legs around so that he lay on the bed beside her.

"So," he said. "Does that mean there's definitely no chance of you having to rush back to Hartford because one of your girlfriends needs boyfriend advice, or has broken a nail or something?"

Alica lightly smacked his arm but giggled at his joke.

"The girls know that once we're in Greenwich I'm totally off the grid, Wade. I'm sure the four of them will be able to survive."

Almost as soon as she said this, her phone started buzzing on the bedside table. Wade groaned and put his head back on the pillow.

"Sorry babe," Alicia murmured as she answered Maria's call.

"Hola biatch!" The redhead's voice called out loud enough for even Wade to hear.

"Hey Maria, me and Wade were just getting ready for our trip."

"I know, that's why I had to call you ASAP, you know, before you go off the grid and everything. Eve's here too, we're out getting smoothies at the mall. I'll put you on speaker."

"Hey girl," Eve called in response.

"Hey Eve. So are you guys gonna tell me what's up?"

"You will never guess who Eve had lunch with today?"

Alicia shot a guilty glance towards Wade who had now picked up his own phone; busying himself with that. Alicia sat up properly in bed and crossed her legs.

"Who?"

"Mike Mizanin!"

Alicia could hear Eve groaning on the other end of the line as she let out an audible gasp.

"No way! Eve, tell me everything!"

"Keeping in mind we're setting off in a couple of hours," Wade murmured beside her.

"Okay," Alicia sighed. "Maybe just the footnotes."

Maria and Eve caught their friend up on Eve's encounter with Mike a few days earlier in a grocery store, leading up to their lunch date today and his stories about LA and his supermodel girlfriend. Alicia's eyes opened wider and wider as the tale progressed, responding frequently with 'OMGs!' and 'No ways!'.

"But," Maria continued excitedly. "The best part is that he's supposed to be some big shot now and has a ton of cool friends, one of whom is throwing the most awesome sounding VIP launch party in the city this weekend, and guess who Mike decided to invite? Eve and her girls!"

Alicia and Maria shared a squeal over the phone as Maria and Eve continued catching her up on the details.

"And it's perfect, because you get back from Greenwich Saturday afternoon, which gives you more than enough time to come..."

"Uh, no duh I'll be there!"

The girls said their final goodbyes before hanging up.

"You'll be where?" Wade asked, almost forcibly casual.

"Eve got invited to this launch party for that new gym downtown and she got the rest of us on the guest list! It's on Saturday so it doesn't interfere with Greenwich..."

Wade sighed.

"Alicia, don't get me wrong, you know I understand, but sometimes I..."

"Sometimes what?" Her expression softened and she placed a small hand on his large arm.

"Never mind. This party sounds like fun," he said finally, to her surprise. "You should go. Besides, seeing as I have to go to New York for the weekend..."

"What?"

"It's a work thing. I've got to go there and meet some important people, you know how it goes."

"And how long have you known about this?"

"I didn't find out until earlier on; that's what that long Skype meeting I had downstairs was about. Surely you're not upset about this? I mean, you _are _spending your weekend living it up with your girlfriends, right?"

"Babe! You should have told me. We could have gone together; extended our little vacation."

"I just thought that since I'll be up to my eyeballs in business stuff you'd just be pretty bored. "

She pouted.

"If I'd have known before I found out about this party I would have loved to have gone anyway, you know that."

Wade shrugged.

"I'm pretty sure your phone had already begun ringing off the hook before I even had the chance to invite you. Besides, I've got business to attend to and you've got... your friends to attend to."

"You're right. A weekend apart won't kill us, right?"

"Exactly. We've got these next couple of days together anyway."

"Yeah."

Wade smiled softly and placed a kiss on the top of Alicia's head before stepping off of the bed.

"I better start loading the car."

"Sure."

She smiled at him as he left the room before sinking back down into her pillows. Okay, so maybe he had the right to be annoyed. Alicia was aware of how often her friendship with the girls had got in the way of her relationship with Wade, and especially now with them being back in Hartford it felt as if she was giving him less and less of her attention. It was something that put unnecessary strain on their relationship and something that she needed to learn to avoid.

Admittedly, there was something about Alicia that usually attracted men who would dote on her, making it easy for her to live her life as she pleased. Most of her past boyfriends wouldn't dare debating with her about how much she was seeing or talking to the girls; it would probably take several times to count the amount of times one of her men would be about to get lucky before she'd have to dart off to deal with some sort of drama. It was different for Alicia. Eve, Maria, Kelly and Kaitlyn were nowhere near as experienced as she was with dating, and as they would joke about often, since their school days she would be the one who never be without a boyfriend. Sometimes it was hard to keep up with the single lifestyles of her best friends, and now that they were no longer in high school or even college, it was becoming harder and harder to convince Wade that it really _was_ necessary to spend hours on Skype talking about the complicated love lives of her friends, or to have to cancel plans because someone needed an emergency girls night.

Wade adored Alicia, but he was no push-over; something that she was slowly learning. More and more often he would get into a strop when her phone rang, but he hadn't yet crossed the boundary into possessiveness. Now that they were engaged there was really no excuse; all of these interruptions would have to end if Alicia was to successfully build a family with this man.

"Hey babe."

Wade was startled by Alicia's surprise presence out at the front of the house, where he was loading their suitcases into her car's trunk. She wandered over to help him out.

"Hey, are you alright?"

She nodded with a small smile.

He closed the trunk with a slam and looked over at her with a grin. She moved closer to him and wrapped her arms around his middle. Instinctively, he wrapped his large frame around her smaller one.

"You know I love you, right?" She murmured into his chest.

"Of course I do, silly. Why else would I want to marry you?"

She beamed out of sheer delight and leaned upwards onto her tiptoes so that she could kiss him.

"I can't wait to get out of here, babe. I'm so excited to move to New York, I wish we were doing it right now."

"Well, right this minute may be out of the question, but who says we can't make the move a little earlier than planned? Three weeks feels like a long way away. What about next week?"

She gasped, not really registering the fact that he was taking her words seriously.

"Can... can we do that? Is that possible?"

He nodded proudly.

"I can find a way."

"Oh my god," she breathed. "That's crazy. That's so soon. Oh god, I need to tell the-"

She trailed off and cleared her throat.

"Okay, let's do it! No more interruptions; just me and you starting our lives together."

He put an arm around her and squeezed tight as they began walking back up the porch into the house, excitedly coming up with plans for the last-minute change to their move to New York. Alicia felt that the more she talked about it, the less chance there was for her to change her mind or to get distracted. They enthused about it all throughout the hour and a half car ride to Greenwich, at dinner later that evening and again between the sheets of their hotel bed after a long, overdue session of lovemaking. As she lay in bed after Wade had fallen asleep, she held her hand out before her and began fiddling with the ring on her finger. She almost couldn't believe how quickly her happily-ever-after was playing out.


	12. Kaitlyn and the Love Concerned

**12. Kaitlyn and the Love Concerned**

"Oh god, Eve. That is _so_ like The Miz. Putting you and your friends on the 'guest list' to some douchey party?"

Kaitlyn's eyes might as well have rolled all the way back into her head going by her visceral reaction to Eve's 'big' news.

"Come on, Kait, it won't be that bad. Like I said, Mike is nothing like what he was back in high school; he's actually really sweet and genuine now and it's not even an attempt to get into my pants."

Kaitlyn made a retching noise but her facial expression softened somewhat as she stretched out on her bed.

"Yeah, whatever. I'll be there but that doesn't mean I'll be happy about it..."

"You are just impossible to please."

"No I'm not," Kaitlyn smirked. "Difficult to please, maybe, but impossible? No way."

"Well yeah, I'm sure Johnny Curtis can attest to that."

"Eve Torres, you mention that name one more time and I'm hanging up."

Eve giggled on the other end of the line.

"Sorry, you just make it far too easy! Hey, speaking of high school, you never told me who it was that you bumped into the other day."

Kaitlyn sighed and paused for a moment, considering whether or not she could divulge. It _was _Eve after all. Kaitlyn and Eve had shared a special kind of relationship ever since their school days. It was surprising considering the two initially did not get on at all, but after some prodding from their mutual friends Alicia, Kelly and Maria, the two realized that they had a lot more in common than they would have even guessed. This led to the two being able to share certain secrets that neither felt like they could share with the other three girls; secrets that had remained exclusive to Kaitlyn and Eve even to this day.

"Dolph Ziggler, of all people. I bumped into him in the park while I was on a run."

She could practically hear Eve's jaw dropping.

"Did you speak to him?"

"Briefly."

"And?"

"We just sort of spoke for a couple of minutes, caught up a little, joked around a little. I don't know if he was kidding or not, but I think he tried to ask me on a date."

"And you said no, right?" Eve pressed on through Kaitlyn's silence. "You said no, right Kait?"

"Of course I did."

"Then why do you sound so disappointed about that?"

"Eve..."

"No, Kaitlyn. You know what he's like. If you think Mike is bad, there's no way you can be softening up to Ziggler now. You know exactly what he's like and by the sound of things he hasn't changed a bit..."

"I said no, didn't I? I said no and walked away and that's that."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure. I probably won't even have to see him again, considering I'm moving to Iowa and all."

"You're _what_?"

"Yep."

After a brief silence, Eve suddenly burst into laughter.

"_Iowa_? Of all places, why Iowa?"

Kaitlyn sighed. "It's not that bad. My friend Ettore from college is originally from there and he's moved back and got a job. Me and AJ sort of bounced the idea around a little but eventually all three of us decided that getting a place together would be the best thing for all of us. You know how well I get on with them. It would be the clean break I need."

She frowned as Eve was once again silent.

"Come on, Eve. Don't be mad."

"I'm not mad," she said quickly. "It happens; we were all expecting it. With Alicia flitting off to New York and Kelly working on Miami we've all known the gang was going to be split up again. But..."

"But?"

"But I just don't want you to use this impulsive urge to move to Iowa as a way of escaping from all of this."

"From all of what?"

Eve sighed. "I don't know. From Hartford? From the past maybe..."

"Eve, you know that I'm not trying to do that."

"It just seems a little odd though, doesn't it? That as soon as you happen to bump into Dolph you suddenly concoct this plan to move out of state?"

"We had already made the plan by the time _that _happened. I just don't get why you support every last impulse of Maria's while I make a genuine plan for myself and you try to talk me out of it."

"That is not what I'm doing! I support you Kait, but I'm just trying to look out for you. That's what you do when you love someone. That's what _we_ do."

Kaitlyn struggled with how to respond. Eve was someone who knew her far too well, and she'd be lying if Eve's concerns didn't echo some of her own.

"Do you think I should go and see him?" She asked quietly, biting her lip as she waited for her friend's response. "You went to see Mike and that gave you some more closure. Maria's got plans to see Punk, of all people. Maybe I should do the same?"

"Kait..." Eve heaved a sigh. "The circumstances are different, you know? I know that deep down a part of you is aching to accept his offer, but you know you can't do that. Just think about Kelly, about how heartbroken she'd be if she knew you were hooking up with her ex."

"It's not 'hooking up'," Kaitlyn hissed. "And she wouldn't have to know. It'd be coffee, maybe dinner, and that's it. It's normal to see people you knew from high school; you and Maria have been doing just as much."

"Would you accept a date from Johnny Curtis? Or Derrick Bateman? No? Then what makes this so different?"

Kaitlyn stopped to think for a moment. For all intents and purposes, Eve was right. There really was no reason for her to go and see Dolph Ziggler again. Who was he, anyway? An arrogant jerk who had cheated on her best friend and broken her heart. An arrogant jerk who treated women in general like dirt; something Kaitlyn knew full well through all of the things she had seen of him in high school. Surprisingly, they had been friends at a point. Through the passion they both shared for sport and fitness they had found themselves running in the same circles – literally and figuratively – when they were younger, but this ended when he had found popularity later on in high school and of course used and abused the naive Kelly Blank.

"Okay, Eve. Maybe you're right. I'm just being stupid. Fuck Ziggler."

"That's the spirit," Eve giggled. "Now why don't you tell me more about Iowa?"

The conversation quickly changed pace as Kaitlyn began catching Eve up on her plan to move to Iowa, beginning with a short trip over there in the next few weeks to give her and AJ an idea of the place and eventually culminating in the town packing up in their respective hometowns and make the drive down to the Midwest where E would be waiting in their brand new apartment.

Eve let out a sigh as Kaitlyn finished.

"It sounds great, Kait, it really does. I was wrong; you definitely seem to have it all figured out."

"I wouldn't say that. I've still got to find a job and pluck up the courage to shove all my stuff into my car and move to a new state entirely, but I'm getting there."

Kaitlyn sat up in bed, crossing her legs and twirling a strand of hair between her fingers. The more she spoke about it with Eve, the more dramatic it all seemed. When she and AJ had first spoken about Iowa, it seemed like a fun, new experience; but now verbalizing it with one of her childhood friends it actually became more and more daunting. Sure, she'd moved out of state for college, but this would be different. There would be no going back home for the holidays; this would be the real thing, her new home.

"One of these days I'm going to muster up enough courage to do what you're doing," Eve said. "God forbid I stay in Connecticut for the rest of my life."

Kaitlyn smiled softly, chuckling.

"There's always starting small. Pick one brave and drastic change to make to your life and the rest will follow. Or so I hope."

The two women giggled and then shared a long sigh in unison.

"Can you believe that going to a party hosted by The Miz of all people is the most exciting thing that will have happened to us since we got back to Hartford?" Eve said.

"Tell me about it. Just like high school."

"High school, but hopefully with hotter, and less disappointing guys."

"So... basically everything college should have been?"

Eve laughed again. "Exactly. I bet Alicia and her man are going to have the best couple of days in Greenwich; not to mention New York. I don't know how that girl does it."

Kaitlyn perked up as she heard the front door slamming shut; signalling her mother's return home from work.

"Okay Eve, I'm going to leave you before this conversation gets even more depressing. My mom just got back so I better go be a good daughter and hassle her."

"Alright, see you soon. Give Ms Bonin my love."

"Of course."

Kaitlyn hung up and jumped out of bed, heading downstairs to see her mother.

"Hey mom," she called as she entered the kitchen.

"Hey Kait, help me with the groceries will you?"

Kaitlyn nodded and began taking food items out of the bags her mom had placed on the counter; wandering around the kitchen to put them in the right places. Her mother Olivia did the same, giving her daughter a warm smile as they finished.

Kaitlyn and her mother had always had a strong relationship. After her parents had divorced several years earlier, leaving the two women alone to fend for herself as Kaitlyn's father and Olivia's now ex-husband had made the decision to relocate to his hometown of Houston, Texas, the two had become even closer. Kaitlyn felt she could share almost everything with her mother and Olivia took great pride in the woman her daughter had grown to be. She was more than happy to welcome her back home after college, supporting her as much as she could.

"How was your day?" She asked.

"Uneventful but what's new?"

"This time period is always difficult. You've only just graduated from college, after all."

Kaitlyn shrugged.

Olivia poured herself and her daughter a glass of orange juice before taking a seat at the kitchen table. "How's the job hunt going?"

Kaitlyn went and sat opposite her, accepting her drink. Resting her elbows on the table in front of her, she gave her mother the kind of fed-up look that had been making appearances across her face for over two decades.

"Nada. I've seen some postings here and there but I'm always either over-qualified or under-qualified for them. AJ's had a lot more luck than me; she's already got her eyes on some tech companies looking for recent graduates. It's great for her because she knows exactly what it is she wants to do with her life, but me? I wouldn't even know where to begin."

Her mother gave her a sympathetic look and a pat on her hand.

"You've only just got out of school. Why don't you focus on a starting point instead of all this big picture stuff? The strangest opportunities fall into your lap when you're least expecting them; you just have to be gracious and accept small signs as they come."

"I guess," Kaitlyn sighed.

"You know it took me years to settle into a career after I got my degree. I never even realized I'd love teaching as much as I do, yet look at me now."

Kaitlyn nodded as her mother took her trip down memory lane, giggling at the life lessons she'd throw in here and there.

"Just remember," Olivia said. "There's no hurry for you to move out. I'm happy with you being here and me supporting you as long as you need it. I just want to be sure that the only reason you leave is because you're ready to and you know what you're leaving for."

"I know, mom. And I'm so grateful for it."

Olivia gave another soft smile and stood, walking around to the other side of the table to hug Kaitlyn gently.

"I'm going to get started on dinner. Are you wanting anything in particular?"

Kaitlyn beamed and jumped out of her seat, joining her mother as the two began bustling around the kitchen, preparing dinner together. Occasionally, Kaitlyn would look over at the older woman and grin as she watched her humming quietly to herself as she chopped vegetables and boiled potatoes. One thing Kaitlyn had noticed was that after her parents had gone through their tumultuous divorce back when she was in high school, stress and worry had left her mother almost as quickly as her husband had. Despite now being a single divorcee, she had developed a certain air of independence, peace and happiness; something that Kaitlyn had spent years trying to learn from her. Her mother's stress-free, take-life-as-it-comes attitude was one of the many things Kaitlyn wished to inherit from her, and as she now prepared to begin her own adult life out of her mother's home, spending as much time with her as possible seemed to be the way to do it.

They enjoyed dinner together that evening, catching up on their days and sharing jokes and anecdotes like they usually did. Olivia was surprised to hear that Kaitlyn, Eve and their friends were heading off to one of Mike Mizanin's parties that weekend (of course, she was fully aware of most of the high school drama the girls had gone through) and curious to hear that Kaitlyn had bumped into Dolph Ziggler out in town.

"The two of you got on pretty well when you were younger," she stated through pursed lips, giving Kaitlyn a sideway glance.

"Yeah, I guess," Kaitlyn replied quietly, staring down at her plate and pushing her food around. "He changed a lot as we got older. You know what he was like, especially when he got with Kelly."

"Poor girl," Olivia sighed. "She of all people definitely didn't deserve that. But I guess it worked out for the better, seeing how well she's doing now."

"She's definitely a lucky one," Kaitlyn said with a nod. "Dolph's probably still living up that playboy lifestyle of his."

Olivia chuckled. "He's older now, I suppose. Hopefully wiser."

"Yeah. Hopefully."

They continued eating their food as the conversation returned to small talk. Kaitlyn's responses became more distant and much less varied as her mind drifted back to the two conversations she'd managed to have today concerning Dolph Ziggler. The more she thought about it, and about the past couple of months in general, the more she realized that she really could not wait to move out of her hometown for good.


	13. The Girls and a Night of Somethings (1)

**13. The Girls and a Night of Somethings (Pt. 1)**

It was the usual scene: Eve's bedroom served as the backdrop of the pre-party hustle and bustle she, Maria, Kelly, Alicia and Kaitlyn had been partaking in for years. Eve sat at her vanity table carefully curling her long, brown hair; Maria and Alicia sat on the edge of her bed helping each other add last minute touches to their make-up; Kelly stood in front of the floor-length mirror scanning herself one last time and Kaitlyn lay across the bed flicking through her phone. The radio in the background blasted all the latest Top 40 hits that the girls just couldn't help themselves from joining in with as the choruses kicked in, while their general buzz and chatter filled the room on top of this.

"Are you guys sure this outfit's okay?"

Kelly took a break from her frowning in the mirror to turn to her friends. She wore a hot pink bralet paired with a high-waisted, cream coloured mini skirt.

"Uh, you look hot, Kells," Kaitlyn called over. "When do you not?"

Kelly shrugged and looked back at the mirror, once again re-adjusting her outfit and hair. Kaitlyn looked up at Alicia, Maria and Eve, all of whom darted confused looks around the room at each other while Kelly remained pre-occupied with herself.

"Yeah," she said finally, giving the mirror one last lingering glance. "I guess it's okay." She gave her friends a bright smile and walked across the room to take a seat on one of Eve's chairs.

"It's fun getting all glammed up like this," Eve said. "We haven't done this in so long."

"Tell me about it," Maria chimed in. "Thank God for The Miz!"

"Guys, can we at least wait until we get to this party before we start hailing Mizanin as our Patron Saint?" Kaitlyn said as she rose from the bed and went over to Eve's mirror to apply another coat of lipgloss.

"Kait's right," Eve suggested. "I mean, odds are this is going to be a kick-ass party, but let's not get ahead of ourselves."

Kaitlyn and Eve shared a knowing giggle as each leaned over to give another more room to peer into the vanity table mirror they shared.

"It's a shame Justin couldn't make it," Maria said, looking over at Kelly with a sympathetic smile. "He seems like someone who'd love this kind of party."

"He's working through a lot of personal stuff," Kelly replied with a shrug. "He's trying to get some cheap last minute tickets to South Africa for... y'know."

The girls had already briefed on the sudden death of Justin's best friend. The room's atmosphere became solemn for a few moments as the girls gave Kelly respectful and sympathetic looks of support.

"I couldn't even get Wade to come if I tried," Alicia said with a giggle. "He hates these Hollywood glitzy sorts of things."

"Yet he's dating the queen of glitz?"

Alicia threw her arms up with a proud shrug, showing off the sparkly red mini-dress that fit snugly against her slim yet muscular figure. Her dark red hair fell in waves over her shoulders to add an extra shot of 'sexy' to the look.

"He sure as hell better get used to it," she added. "Especially considering..."

Her sentence trailed off suddenly as she looked down at her hands.

"Considering...?" Kelly frowned, picking up on Alicia's quick change of pace. The other girls had noticed too, and all eyes turned to the Foxy redhead.

"Considering," Alicia began, looking around at her girlfriends. "Considering we're moving to New York in a week."

Four jaws dropped at once.

"What?! I thought you were sticking around for a few more weeks?" Kaitlyn stared over in shock, the first to verbalize what Eve, Kelly and Maria were thinking.

"We were..." Alicia said quietly. "But we spoke about it a little while we were in Greenwich and we decided that we're both ready to get going. He's in New York this weekend on business and trying to get things sorted so that we can bring our move forward."

"I can't believe it, Leesh," Maria said with a pout, wrapping her arms around her friend. "You guys are going so quickly."

"I guess that means we're going to have to go twice as hard tonight then," Kaitlyn said with a grin.

Alicia nodded. "I've got some more news for you guys too."

She dug through her bag and retrieved something from it, holding it tight in her palm as she looked around at her friends.

"I've been waiting for the right time to tell you guys, but I don't think there really is one. Especially now that me and Wade are leaving next week."

She took a deep breath and smiled at the confused faces surrounding her. She opened her palm and slid a diamond ring onto her finger.

"I'm getting married."

Once again, four jaws dropped. Alicia held up her hand and glanced around at her best friends; awaiting a response. The first came from Maria, who shrieked and once again threw her arms around Alicia with an even tighter grip. The other three girls quickly followed suit, launching across the room at Alicia and jumping into the pile of hugs as they built up. Each took turns staring at the rock on Alicia's finger, exchanging squeals and shrieks and after some time, tears.

When they eventually began to calm down, questions began flying across the room. Alicia could barely contain her excitement as she shared the details of the proposal, confirmed that she and Wade had yet to set a date, and promised the girls that no duh, they would be her bridesmaids.

"I'm so happy for you," Kelly squealed as she wiped a tear out of her eye. "I can't believe it took you so long to tell us!"

"Yeah," Maria agreed. "Girl code officially states that you should have called for an emergency group Skype the second the man proposed."

"I was far too busy trying to celebrate with my man," Alicia giggled in response.

After some more interrogation and celebration, the girls finally dispersed; returning to their respective stations to finish getting ready.

"Hey Leesh, would you mind helping me finish off my make up in the bathroom?"

"Yeah, sure Kells."

Alicia followed Kelly out of the room, fully aware that they were sneaking off for a conversation that was definitely nothing to do with cosmetics. They entered Eve's large family bathroom, shutting the door behind them.

"Did you put off telling everyone for so long because of me?" Kelly asked with little hesitation, staring Alicia blankly in the face. Alicia looked away, shuffling uncomfortably on her feet. "Alicia..."

"Okay, maybe a little," she mumbled in response. "But I knew what you were going through and I didn't want to suddenly make it all about me..."

"Alicia! That is so unfair. You cannot be putting my silly relationship drama first when you just got proposed to! God, I feel awful; he proposed literally minutes before I called you and begged you to come see me! You spent the night with me when you should have been with him, Alicia!"

Kelly was becoming physically upset, her eyes becoming watery once again. Alicia sighed and went over to her, wrapping her arms around her frame.

"Kelly, you don't have to be sorry. Wade understood. I understood. It doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things, y'know?"

Kelly shook her head. "He must be so happy you're moving to New York," she said with a small giggle. "At least while you're there none of us can be calling you after every little drama and running to see you."

Alicia laughed, taking a seat on the edge of the bathtub. She beckoned Kelly to join.

"I feel like we all need some space from each other," she said softly. "I mean, I love that we're all here and spending so much time together, but you're right in that we need to learn about what to put first and prioritize."

Kelly nodded in agreement.

"Sometimes I definitely think Justin gets mad when I cancel on him or ignore him because I'm busy with the girls. He never complains, but he definitely seems frustrated sometimes. I'm sure Wade must be the same."

Alicia shrugged with a heavy sigh.

"Definitely. But I get it, you know? We just got engaged, we're about to start our lives together in New York; I'm sure he wishes he had more of my attention than I've been giving him. When we were away these past few days it was amazing. I won't give you all the dirty details – " this earned a laugh from Kelly. "But it just being the two of us, having each other's undivided attention... it just really puts things in perspective. It's so hard to remember that although we're _us _and it will always be me, you and the girls, there are other things going on in our lives too. I owe it to Wade and you owe it to Justin to remember that."

Kelly nodded, finding a great deal of comfort in this impromptu heart to heart.

"I'm going to miss you like crazy," she mumbled, putting a hand on Alicia's knee. "But thank God I won't have the option to run to you every single time I get upset about something."

The two women laughed.

"What are you going to do about Justin?"

Kelly sighed. "Who knows? With all the stuff going on right now I just can't bring myself to do anything about what I saw. I'm definitely not going to let it go, but I just need to be there to support him while he's mourning. I was probably just overreacting that day, anyway. I don't know, Leesh."

Alicia gave her a sympathetic nod and leaned over to pull her in for a hug. They shared a brief yet warm moment together before it was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Taxi should be here in five!" Kaitlyn's voice called through the door.

Alicia and Kelly looked at each other and smiled, before standing up and leaving the bathroom; going back to join their friends as they poured and shared out what Maria claimed to be "celebratory pre-party shots."

* * *

As the five girls stepped out of their taxi and stood before the busy entrance to the club being rented out that evening, none could deny the warm feeling of VIP stardom that flowed through them. They looked around at each other and shared excited looks as cameras flashed and bouncers checked names off of clipboards. Maria was the first to put the excitement into words.

"This is going to be the best party ever!"

All five laughed as they began walking the red carpet, flashing dazzling grins at the bouncers as they took their names and let them in.

"_My name is on a guest list_," Maria squealed into Eve's ear as the two women linked arms and entered the club.

The scene was so perfect it was almost a parody. _Brighter Lights _was the best, most popular and of course most exclusive club in downtown Hartford. Entry didn't come cheap and neither did drinks. It was a large, spacious venue, with several private group areas and a hip, young DJ stood on a platform filling the club with heavy, penetrating music. The guests at the party certainly fit the scene; gorgeous young people who would not look out of place in the audience at a Fashion Week, and who fit Mike's new LA lifestyle to a tee. Eve, Maria, Kelly and Alicia were making zero effort to conceal how impressed they were, and even Kaitlyn's expression had softened. They all looked around the club, trying to figure out a plan of attack. In the end, they wouldn't even have to.

"Eve!"

Mike Mizanin was dressed to the nines as he sauntered over to the group of women, pulling Eve in for a warm and friendly hug. When they pulled away, he looked around at the four women around her, all with the same sort of unsure look on their faces.

"Maria, Kelly, Alicia, Kaitlyn." He looked at each one of them with a courteous nod.

"Hey Mike," Maria replied, again being the first to break the ice. "It's been a while. You look great and this party is unbelievable."

Alicia and Kelly nodded in agreement while Kaitlyn simply folded her arms across her chest.

"Thanks," he grinned. "I'm glad you guys could make it. I was just blown away when I bumped into Eve recently; it's awesome that I get to share all of this cool stuff with her and of course her girls, too."

"Yeah, thanks for inviting us," Alicia smiled. "This definitely is not a high school party."

"I'll drink to that," he said, ushering over a man who balanced a tray of drinks on one hand. Mike took one for himself and offered the rest to the girls; each of whom took one of the glasses on offer.

"So..." Eve said, inspecting the drink in her hand. "Shall we drink to not being in high school anymore?"

"Cheers!"

The six of them knocked back their drinks and burst into laughter.

"Drinks are on the house all evening," Mike said. "So you ladies better have a hell of a night."

"Believe me, Mike, that's the plan," Eve replied. Mike chuckled in response. While the two shared this exchange, Alicia, Kaitlyn, Maria and Kelly exchanged knowing glances of their own.

"I say we go check this place out," Maria suggested, looking at Alicia, Kaitlyn and Kelly in particular.

"Yeah, let's do that." Kaitlyn agreed, her eyes firmly on the bar area.

Eve went to follow but was stopped by Mike lightly grabbing hold of her arm. She looked at Kaitlyn for assistance, but she shrugged.

"Sorry to drag her away from you girls," Mike said to the other girls, before looking back at Eve. "But there are some people I really want to introduce you to, if that's okay?"

"Yeah, sure," Eve agreed, giving the others an apologetic glance.

She followed closely behind Mike as he weaved through the crowd towards the VIP section in the back. He was quite the host; stopping every so often to greet people and schmooze. Eve picked up on this very quickly, pointing it out to Mike as they walked.

"Trust me," he said into her ear over the loud music. "I charm wealthy d-bags for a living."

Eve giggled, shaking her head at the unapologetic nature of Mike's antics.

Eventually they had made their way through the crowded club. Mike strolled past the bouncer standing by the VIP section with ease, beckoning a nervous Eve.

"Maryse is here," he said, almost bouncing with excitement. "You _have _to meet her."

"Oh, wow, awesome," Eve replied through gritted teeth; following her ex boyfriend along to his current squeeze. Eve's jaw drop the second she spotted the woman she already knew to be Maryse. She was stood speaking to a group of people, but she stood out more than anything. A bright smile was plastered across her beautiful face, which was framed by long, wavy platinum blonde hair that fell to her waist. She had a slim figure that was only accentuated by the skin-tight strapless green dress she had on; with a plunge neckline that showed off her... sizeable features. Mike already had a dreamy look on his face, and she couldn't blame him. Maryse was drop dead gorgeous.

"'Ryse!" Mike called over the noise, waving over at his girlfriend. She turned, grinning as she spotted her boyfriend. She sauntered over, wrapping her arms around him with a dreamy look on his own.

"There you are, Mike," she beamed, with what Eve recognized as some sort of French accent. "You will never guess who just turned up!"

Maryse's expression dulled somewhat as she noticed Eve standing on the other side of Mike, smiling nervously.

"Hi, have we met?" Maryse, to Eve's surprise had a chirpy tone to her voice and friendly smile on her face. "I'm Maryse."

"This," Mike chimed in, stepping back to allow the two women to properly interact with each other. "Is Eve Torres; the girl from high school I was telling you about."

Maryse's face lit up with remembrance.

"Oh my god, Eve! Mike has told me so much about you; it's so crazy how you bumped into each other like that!"

Eve's jaw almost dropped again as Maryse brought her in for a warm hug.

"You are gorgeous," Maryse said as she stepped away. "I can see why you were Mike's... what is it you called her? High school sweetheart?"

Mike burst into laughter as he threw an arm around Maryse's shoulder. He leaned down to kiss her, forcing Eve to quickly turn away. Were they playing a joke on her?

"It's nice to meet you too, Maryse," Eve said, trying her best to maintain a warm demeanour. "Mike has told me so much about how in love with you he is, and I can definitely see that."

The happy couple shared a laugh and another loving look.

"Eve knew me and tolerated me at my worst," Mike said, switching his gaze between Eve and Maryse. "I almost can't believe she's even allowed me back into her life at all."

Maryse nodded.

"I'm so glad that the two of you are good friends now."

"Yeah," Eve muttered, locking eyes with Mike, who gave her a soft smile. "Me too."

"I'll get some drinks," Mike said, clapping his hands together. If you ladies will excuse me..."

Mike wandered off, leaving Eve staring after him, trying to overcome the awkwardness that the situation had quickly driven into. Maryse, however, seemed to refuse to let her remain standing around biting her lip.

"Come and have a seat!" The French-Canadian suggested, linking her arm through Eve's with an excited grin. "You _have _to tell me everything about Mike from high school."

Eve grinned and followed Maryse to a comfy looking couch.

"Well, has he ever told you the story about the time he..."

* * *

It didn't take long for Maria's short attention span to lead her off on a solitary walk around the club; a dreamy look on her face and a fruity cocktail in hand. The scene tonight made her feel like she was living out her LA dreams already, with the beautiful people surrounding her, the lights flashing around above her, and the music transporting her. It was perfect. Alicia, Kelly and Kaitlyn had already claimed a table and were perfectly content remaining there for a while, but Maria had felt the need to excuse herself under the guise of going off to find Eve. Which, in all fairness, was _partly _true, seeing as if she found Eve, she'd probably also find Mike, and Mike would probably be able to introduce them to the super cool gym owner who was the man behind the party tonight. Maria realized that if she wanted to get anywhere in a city like Los Angeles, she'd need connections; and she was fairly sure that Mike and his friends would be a perfect way in.

After her run in with Punk a few days earlier, Maria suddenly felt like she was on cloud nine. She had already arranged to meet up with him over lunch and could not stop thinking about it. It might not exactly be a date, but it was start; at least, that was what she kept on assuring the girls of.

Before long, she was able to spot the VIP section. She waved madly trying to catch Eve's attention as she sat speaking with a gorgeous blonde woman. Eventually Eve looked up and spotted her redheaded friend, quickly excusing herself from her conversation and running over to meet her and usher her in. Maria's heart fluttered wildly as the bouncer stepped aside with a smile to let her in.

"This is the coolest thing ever!" Maria hissed into Eve's ear.

"Tell me about it! Come over here, I want to introduce you to someone."

Maria nodded and straightened up her outfit, following Eve back over to the sofa area. The blonde woman was now tapping away on her phone, but looked up with a smile as Eve approached.

"Hi Eve," she said, standing to greet the new arrival.

"Hey Maryse. This is my best friend Maria, she's also from Connecticut. Maria, this is Maryse. She's Mike's girlfriend – who also happens to be thinking of starting up her own fashion line."

Maria had frowned in surprise at the idea of Eve fraternizing with her ex's new squeeze, but was grinning wildly by the end of the introduction.

"Oh my god, I love fashion! It's so nice to meet you!"

Eve stood back and giggled as the two women reached in for a hug and began almost immediately to discuss all sorts of fashion gossip and ideas. This was quite clearly all going over Eve's head, so she stepped back and looked around the VIP section. The two women barely even noticed as she left and walked over to Mike. He stood speaking with a group of people, all of whom burst into laughter as he said something. Same old Mike. Hesitantly, Eve stepped towards him, patting his arm softly. He turned around and grinned as soon as he saw her, excusing himself from the group surrounding him.

"Hey," he said, handing her a glass of champagne. "It looks like you and 'Ryse are hitting it off."

"She's great," Eve said with a nod. "Really nice and obviously gorgeous. I think you may have some competition with Maria, though."

The two laughed as they looked over at Maryse and Maria, both deeply engaged in their conversation.

"Maria always loved fashion, right?"

"Oh yeah. It's her dream to move to LA and be part of that world for the rest of her life. She's not the most ambitious person, I know."

Mike laughed at Eve's joke, and then let out a sigh.

"I'm so happy you're here, Evie."

He leaned in to whisper this into her ear, allowing them a somewhat intimate moment in the crowded, noisy club. Eve looked at him with a smile.

"Me too, Mike. Thanks for inviting us."

"It's my pleasure." He grabbed hold of her arm and gestured over to a group in the corner, sat around on couches and passing around expensive drinks. "Come here, I want to introduce you to someone."

"Is the goal for tonight for you to just let me into every single part of your new life?"

Mike chuckled as he led her through the crowd. She hung back for a moment as he went forward to grab the attention of a large framed man with long black hair tied back in a ponytail. Eve recognized him instantly. Her stomach turned as Mike brought the man over to her. She tried her best to inconspicuously smooth down her hair and readjust her flattering attire of denim hotpants and a form-fitting black halter top.

"Evie, this is my friend Roman Reigns. He's the owner of _Believers _and the man of the hour tonight. Roman, this is Eve; an old friend from high school."

Roman licked his lips and gave Eve a warm smile; damn near sending shivers down her spine. When she and Maria had spotted him at the gym it was from a distance, but up close every chiselled feature was in plain sight. Eve was smitten instantly.

"It's very nice to meet you, Eve," he said, his deep voice carrying over the music. "Thanks for coming out tonight." He held out a large hand which Eve fit her smaller one into for a handshake.

"It's nice to meet you too. I am crazy excited to be here."

She didn't even have time to question how lame she sounded, as Mike quickly dived into conversation.

"Eve went to college in California, USC, right? I met Roman back in LA when I was at college. He'd already graduated by then but he was around working with my senior class and we just hit it off. As you can probably tell by tonight, we share a sort of... creative vision."

Roman chuckled. "Something like that. I'm all about business and the nitty-gritty stuff, but Mike here jumped at the chance to help me throw this party."

"Yeah, that definitely sounds like Mike," Eve giggled. "So, are you LA based too?"

"Not quite. I lived there for a while after college but me and a friend of mine decided to do some travelling around, trying to figure out the next step. Mike actually suggested Hartford to me, and he was right. Getting this gym opened here was a really popular decision locally. I have a branch in LA too and it's doing really well. Mike's got a great business – and creative – sense so he's been great at helping me get all this stuff off the ground. I'm sticking around Hartford for a little while though, I'm having a great time here."

Eve nodded, smiling politely as she spoke. Her eyes flitted over to Mike, and she couldn't help but chuckle to herself at the size of the grin on his face as Roman discussed business. At some point, Roman and Mike began having a conversation of their own, allowing Eve to look back over to where Maryse and Maria were still sat talking. As she lay eyes on the beaming redhead, she had a sudden lightbulb moment.

"Hey, Roman," she said suddenly. "I'd love to introduce you to a friend of mine, she's over there with Maryse."

Both Mike and Roman looked over at the two women, while Eve kept her eyes on Roman trying to discern his reaction. She was slightly disappointed to see the polite smile remain on his face as the three of them approached Maria and Maryse.

"Maria," Eve called, making the redhead look over in surprise. As soon as she saw the man beside Eve, her eyes sparkled in delight. She looked back at Eve with a knowing look. "This is Roman; he owns _Believers._"

Maria's jaw dropped, and she jumped to her feet. Maryse stood also, going over to her boyfriend and planting a kiss on his lips. Eve looked away quickly. She turned her attention back to introducing Roman and Maria to each other, and left them to chat while she turned to slip away.

"Hey, where are you off to?" Mike asked, one arm around Maryse's waist and the other reaching out to grab Eve's arm.

"Um – I just realized Alicia, Kelly and Kaitlyn are over in the other section, I haven't really seen much of them tonight."

"Why don't you bring them over here?" Maryse suggested. "After all, this _is _where the party is, right?"

Mike nodded in agreement. "I'll get one of my bouncers to go and grab them."

He set off to go and speak to one of the large men stood around, essentially at his beck and call. Again, Eve giggled at the antics of The Miz.

"He just loves being in charge," Maryse giggled into Eve's ear. "I love that about him."

Eve nodded with a chuckle as Maryse's eyes remained glued on her boyfriend. Eve turned back around to Roman and Maria. She was sure her friend was loving life right about now, and that was all Eve wanted to see. She had been concerned about Maria lately, especially now that Punk had popped back into the picture. Maria's schoolgirl crush on him was certainly intense back in the day, and the last thing anyone needed was for it to make reappearance. Although Kelly and Alicia thought it was cute, Eve and Kaitlyn agreed that they feared seeing Maria get her heart broken once again. Although Maria's hunt for Roman hadn't been particularly successful at the gym the other day, Eve felt that playing cupid for tonight couldn't hurt. Maria Kanellis wanted love but neither she nor her best friends could magically whip that up for her in a night, but having some male company for the evening couldn't hurt either... could it?

* * *

Kaitlyn loved her friends more than anything, but being the single one in a group of women with boyfriends – and now, even _fiancés _– was rarely her idea of fun. Eve had long since disappeared to meet Mike's friends, and she was fairly sure Maria's disappearance to find _her _had ended in her bumping into a cute guy somewhere. So that left Kaitlyn to continue sipping drinks and scanning the club for some fun while Kelly and Alicia sipped on their own drinks and discussed wedding decor. She was – as much as she hated to admit it – thrilled when a bouncer approached them to invite them into the VIP area, at Mr Mizanin's request.

Eve and Maria already seemed to be into the swing of things, conversing comfortably with a bunch of different people neither Kaitlyn, nor Kelly nor Alicia, recognized. Either way, they were happy to be introduced and make polite conversation with Mike Mizanin's new girlfriend, Maryse Ouellet, and the man behind the new _Believers _gym, Roman Reigns. Kaitlyn almost burst into laughter at the sight of Maria practically drooling over the large man as she stood beside him.

Kaitlyn was a little less excited about again being in Mike Mizanin's presence; and he seemed to pick up on this very quickly.

"Hey Kaitlyn, can I offer you a drink?"

Kaitlyn eyed Mike with hesitation as he gestured over towards the mini bar with a friendly smile. Her four friends were preoccupied with their various conversations, leaving Kaitlyn little choice but to agree and follow Mike.

"You're looking great," he said politely as they walked. "Did you play much sport during college?"

"A little here and there," she replied, just as politely. "Mostly track but nothing too serious."

"That's cool." An awkward silence ensued. "Kaitlyn, why do you still hate me so much? Even Eve's forgiven me."

"I don't hate you," Kaitlyn said with a sigh. "I'm just not as... over-trusting as the others."

Mike chuckled.

"Man, if you can be this icy with me, I feel pretty bad for your high school exes. How is Johnny Curtis these days?"

This earned a laugh from Kaitlyn.

"Shut up. How's Brooke Tessmacher?"

"Ouch!"

The two laughed as they reminisced about Mike's romantic past with Brooke, whom he had ended up hooking up with after being dumped by Eve. Brooke was on the cheerleading squad, a very popular girl on campus; popularity that had led to her ending her relationship with Mike to get with his ex-best friend, John Morrison.

"Poetic justice," Kaitlyn giggled.

"Whatever. Actually, that reminds me. You can be as mean to me as you like tonight, but please try not to get into a fight with Dolph Ziggler."

Kaitlyn held back a gasp. "Ziggler's coming tonight?"

Mike nodded. By now they had approached the bar, and with his winning smile he asked for another bottle of champagne.

"I hope Kelly doesn't mind," he said. "Eve mentioned something about her having a boyfriend now so I'm sure it won't really matter that much, but..."

By this point Kaitlyn had already drifted off and had taken to scanning to scanning the club in search for a peroxide blonde head. The truth was she didn't know how Kelly would respond to seeing him, but Kaitlyn had a feeling their surprise meeting would be nowhere near as cordial as Eve and Mike's. Dolph's infidelity caused Kelly's self-esteem to take a massive hit, something which lasted for years. Even with Justin now in the picture, Kaitlyn doubted she would suddenly be forgiving.

"Kaitlyn?"

She snapped to attention as Mike began waving a glass in her face.

"Oh, sorry."

"Come to think of it, are _you _okay with seeing Dolph?"

Kaitlyn frowned, eyeing Mike suspiciously.

"I don't really care," she said dismissively, taking a glass from him and turning to walk back to where her friends were gathered. Mike understood and dropped the subject, following closely behind as she walked.

* * *

"I can't believe it's him!"

Maria and Eve had slipped off to go to the bathroom and Maria's excitement had poured out of her the second they entered the large, glamorously decorated room.

"So much for Punk," Eve chuckled, reapplying lip gloss in the mirror.

Maria rolled her eyes and leaned back against the countertop. "It doesn't really matter though. As much as I can stand around and drool over Roman, I don't think he's interested."

"Why not?" Eve frowned. So, her efforts had gone to waste already.

"Because," Maria said with a satisfied smirk on her face. "He's been checking you out all night."

* * *

"Mike's so different now, isn't he?" The shock in Kelly's tone was evident.

"Eve was right," Alicia agreed. "I mean, he's handing out free champagne like it's water so I can't even complain."

Kaitlyn nodded along as they spoke, although her attention was elsewhere. Sure enough, she had found Mike over in the distance, greeting his old friend Dolph Ziggler.

"Do you guys wanna go dance?" She suggested as Maria and Eve made their return from the bathroom.

"Duh!"

Maria was the one to lead the charge, grabbing hold of Eve and Alicia's hands as all five girls headed down to the dance floor. Kaitlyn bopped along with her friends, keeping one eye on Ziggler as she did so; thankful that Kelly was now far too preoccupied with one of her songs blasting through the speakers to focus on anything else.

The ever perceptive Eve, however, had already spotted Kaitlyn's wandering eye and was able to follow it back to the source. After some brief deliberation she decided to brush it off. After all, she had her own man to be concerned with...

* * *

_I decided to split this chapter into two because of how much is going on. The girls have a long night ahead of them and this story is only just getting started!_

_Next time:_

_Eve tries her luck; Kaitlyn tries her best and Maria tries something new..._

_R&R lovelies! xo_


	14. The Girls and a Night of Somethings (2)

**14. The Girls and a Night of Somethings (Pt. 2)**

By midnight, the official launch party for Roman Reigns' new gym, hosted by Mike 'The Miz' Mizanin, was in full swing. The drinks were flowing and it showed; the party-goers were dancing around freely and bodies were pressed against bodies. The popular beats of Kanye West and Jay Z caused the club to practically vibrate while countless voices jumped and sang along to the lyrics. Out of all of these party-goers, however, there didn't seem to be anyone having as much fun as the five girlfriends pressed together in the centre of the dance floor, making men stare as they gyrated against each other. Alicia and Kelly were quick to shake off such men, but Kaitlyn, Eve and Maria were relishing in being – as Eve liked to call it – sexy as fuck, but unattainable as fuck. The girls had had to have a brief chat in the bathrooms in order to remind a very drunk Maria about standards. She had, of course, shook it all off and seemed to be lost in her own little world as she swayed around and allowed herself to be taken away by the music and the atmosphere surrounding her.

That was the thing about Maria, something that friends admired in her and something that drew strangers towards her. The young woman carried around just as many burdens as the average person did, but she had a certain talent for rarely letting it show. She would often be teased about her residence in 'her own little world', but this world she had created for herself worked wonders for keeping her together and relatively carefree. The way she was grinning and dancing now, who would even guess that she was terrified about her future and job prospects? Who would even guess that she was terrified that with every romantic rejection she was getting closer and closer to the dreaded aloneness of adulthood? Maria Kanellis was terrified, but Maria Kanellis was also valiant, headstrong and ready for anything.

So what was it exactly that was encouraging her to persistently make eyes at the ruggedly handsome blonde man stood across the room from her? Was it these noble traits of hers? Was it the thought of Roman Reigns' subtle rejection? Or was it simply the liquor? Whatever it was, it was working its magic as the man made little hesitation in strolling confidently through the throngs of people over to Maria.

"Dean." Cool and confident, she kept her eyes on him as he looked her up and down, like a predator stalking its prey. "Fancy seeing you here."

"Hey Maria. Come outside with me?"

Her friends gaped open-mouthed as Maria slipped away with this mysterious man, gliding as if she was walking on air.

"Does she know him?" Kelly watched, almost in horror, unsure of whether to stop Maria from walking off with her new companion.

"She's had a tough couple of months," Eve shrugged, hardly even stopping her movements to the music. "He's pretty hot, right? Let her have a little bit of fun."

"I'm going to go to the bathroom," Kaitlyn called absent-mindedly, already halfway gone before she had even finished her sentence.

* * *

As with Maria, the influence of alcohol had quickly taken over the two-toned haired woman. She was having a good night, just like everyone else was. Her interactions with Mike had admittedly done much to change her opinion about him. Kaitlyn was certainly strong in her convictions, stubborn even, but that rarely stopped her from being friendly and down for a good time. Her guard had made sure that Mike had to put work in to get into her good books, and after a night of free drinks and good conversation, Kaitlyn's high school grudge was quick to fade.

But Mike wasn't really what was important tonight. As much as this party was about the five girls having the chance for the first time in a long, long time to be together and forget about real world stress and quite simply have fun, deep down each one of them had their own agenda in mind. Maria's had already made itself known and Kaitlyn felt she had no choice but to follow her example.

With every ounce of confidence she had in her, Kaitlyn stormed up to the blonde man stood by the bar and tapped aggressively on his shoulder.

"Dolph."

He spun around and smirked at the sight of the woman before him.

"Kaitlyn. Just can't keep away from me, huh?"

"Ugh," she scoffed, folding her arms around her chest in response to him blatantly checking her out. "I just came over here to let you know that I don't appreciate the way you spoke to me at the park the other day. Mike Mizanin might be cool now but you are not."

"How much have you had to drink?" He asked, holding back laughter. This was quite clearly the wrong thing to say, as her eyes darkened and her stance stiffened as soon as he spoke.

"You're an asshole, Ziggler. I'm here tonight and Kelly's here tonight and I suggest you stay away from us."

She spun around, attempting to have a dramatic exit, but Dolph grabbed hold of her arm and brought her towards him so that they were practically chest to chest.

"I can stay away from Kelly, fine, but I don't think it's fair that _you're _blacklisting me."

"Well I don't think it's fair that you treat women like shit."

"And I don't think it's fair that you're still holding on to high school grudges."

Kaitlyn clenched her jaw, still very conscious of the fact that Ziggler's grip felt as if it was burning into her skin and that their stare down would eventually have to end with one of them standing down. And Kaitlyn sure as hell was not ready to lose this round.

"You're drunk, Katie." She stiffened at the sound of this nickname. "Why don't you let me take you home?"

"Why don't you go fuck yourself?" She hissed in response.

Ziggler kept his cool, laughing it off instead of being offended. This only angered Kaitlyn more.

"What the hell is your problem?" She spat.

"If I recall correctly, you're the one who walked over here to talk to me," he said coolly. "Nobody forced you to. I think the problem is all yours, Katie. After all, it always has been; right?"

In her drunken state she must have attempted to lunge at him, because before she knew it, Mike was darting over to the scene and grabbing her around the waist. He did this calmly and smoothly, trying to avoid attention and confrontation. Kaitlyn could feel herself seething as Dolph simply readjusted his blazer and smoothed his hair down.

"I swear to God..."

* * *

Eve had found herself over by the bar, making conversation with a particularly intoxicated woman, when she noticed a pair of eyes on her. Dark brown eyes that accompanied a chiselled and handsome face and a large, muscular body. She wasn't exactly sure what it was, but something within her encouraged her to excuse herself from her conversation and saunter over to the other side of the bar, slipping Roman Reigns a seductive glance before turning away from him and leaning over the bar to order a drink. Yes, she was very aware of how great her ass looked in these high waisted denim shorts, and of how well the lacy black crop top she wore accentuated her bust. Eve had it, and was definitely not afraid of flaunting it.

So maybe the 'treat him mean, keep him keen' tactic was a little juvenile, but with someone as hot and as successful as Roman Reigns was, Eve definitely had to leave it up to him to make the first move. If Maria was right – and in all fairness to her, her sense of perception rarely failed – then he was at least _somewhat _interested. And like the redhead argued during their earlier conversation in the bathroom, girl code officially state that once the man in question has established his lack of interest in your friend, you were well within your rights to make a move of your own...

_"__But you literally tried to stalk the guy to get him to ask you out on a date. And you're telling me you'd be cool with me trying my luck with him?"_

_"__It was more of an experiment than anything, Eve. I mean, yeah, he is ridiculously hot... But we don't really have anything in common. I spent at least a good five minutes talking to him and nothing. Not to mention he couldn't stop staring at you whilst talking to me."_

_"__Sorry," Eve said sheepishly._

_"__Eh, whatever! Let's just call it payback for that time you had to relinquish your crush on Adam so that I could go out with him... for two months. I think I have some other options lined up, anyway. I can't even remember the last time you showed genuine interest in a guy, Evie. Go and get you some Roman and just have a little fun! You've earned it!"_

_"__How exactly?"_

_Maria grinned and slapped her friend playfully on the behind._

_"__Who cares? You look hot as hell and that's all that matters. Now let's get out there and dance like crazy. Neither of us are leaving this party without a man on our arm, I can promise you that Evie."_

"Hey, Eve right?"

She looked up in delight as he stood leaning beside her against the bar, towering over her all the same.

"That's right. I'm surprised a hot shot like you even remembered my name," she joked casually.

He shrugged. "I'm not a hotshot. And I always remember a pretty face."

She could barely keep herself from giggling like a fangirl.

"You went to high school with Mike, didn't you?"

"That's right. In fact, we dated for a while."

Roman's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Wow. Maryse, and you too? I don't know how he does it."

"It's the charm," Eve said with a laugh. "It's always the charm."

Roman chuckled and licked his lips in a way that made Eve practically swoon where she stood. She was fully aware of the amount of woman in their general area staring over at him with a similar sort of lust in their eyes, or staring over at her almost green with envy, and she couldn't help but admit that she loved the attention. It had been a while, after all.

"What about me?" His deep voice carried almost melodically over the music. "Am I doing okay with my charm?"

Eve took this as a direct confirmation of the fact that this man was now flirting with her; and so the fun could commence.

"Not too bad. The whole looking like a movie star thing helps too, and of course the whole being an entrepreneur thing doesn't hurt either."

"Wow. You are very direct, aren't you Eve?"

"My mother always taught me that you don't get anything in this world if you don't go after it."

"Does that mean you're trying to get me?"

"That's all up to you, Roman."

It was like a game for the two of them, this back and forth, sexually-charged exchange. Just from the way they were looking at each other it was easy to tell that they were ready to jump each other's bones. But the game had only just begun...

Or at least, it had only just begun by the time Eve's attention was drawn to a spot a few metres behind Roman, where Mike had just dove in to stop Kaitlyn from doing what looked like punching Dolph Ziggler's lights out.

"Oh my god," she muttered to herself. "I'm really sorry Roman, but I have to go and check on my friend. I'll see you around?"

He hesitated for a moment but then stopped her from dashing off.

"At least promise me you'll come have a drink with me before you leave tonight? All this business and party stuff is cool, but it would be nice to have someone to celebrate with. Especially if that someone is as beautiful as yourself."

Eve gave a satisfied smile. The look on Roman's face was sincere yet seductive, and once again he was licking his lips unashamedly.

"You have my word."

She allowed him to press a kiss on the back of his hand before dashing off to take Kaitlyn – literally – out of Mike's hands. She was still fuming, and the look on Ziggler's once smug face did a pretty good job of proving this.

"Thanks Mike. It's fine, I'll take her outside."

* * *

Eve was used to this. In all the years she had known Kaitlyn, she had lost count of the amount of times she had been forced to step in to diffuse her hotheadedness. This side of her came out very rarely, as Kaitlyn was usually esteemed for being a chilled-out kind of gal. But certain occasions... moreover, certain _people _would make her lose her cool; Dolph Ziggler being one of them.

"Get yourself together, girl," Eve hissed as she sat Kaitlyn down on a ledge in the outside area of the club. "I knew I should have stopped you the second I saw you eyeing Ziggler up earlier."

"I was _not _eyeing him up," Kaitlyn replied fiercely, crossing her arms over her chest.

"What even possessed you to go over there and speak to him?"

Eve shook her head and perched beside her; partly annoyed yet partly amused.

"He always gets away with everything. I can't stand him."

"Even so, you can't go lunging at him like that. You could have easily stayed away from him and you and I both know why you didn't. I know it must be hard for you seeing him after all these years, but it's not fair on yourself to go diving into all this history. You were both younger and now you're adults and-"

"Stop it, Eve! Stop!" Kaitlyn shoved Eve's hands out of her lap and scooted away from her in fury, her voice becoming progressively louder. "What is it, are you getting feelings for Mike again? Is that what's suddenly making you so loving and accepting of all the bullshit these dudes have thrown at us, regardless of how many years it's been? How many times do you think Mizanin hooked up with an insecure girl at college just so he could get the accolade of taking her virginity? How many times do you think Dolph Ziggler cheated on one of his college girlfriends and shrugged it off like nothing? How many times do you think Dolph Ziggler charmed his stupid way into some stupid girl's pants only to leave her high and dry? How many times do you think he abandoned her when-"

"Kaitlyn!"

Eve grabbed her increasingly hysterical friend by the shoulders and yanked her around so that they were face to face. A part of Eve was scared. In all these years she had seen many dark sides of Kaitlyn Bonin, but never like this. Never this impossibly drunk and shaking and crying and so angry and upset. She was like a woman possessed.

"What would Kelly say if she saw you like this? Are you trying to hurt her, Kaitlyn?"

Kaitlyn shook her head through sobs, gasping to get her breath back. Eve looked around helplessly, frustrated at the fact that she couldn't even call Maria, Alicia and Kelly for backup. Eve was relatively buzzed as it was, and she was barely in any state to help someone as drunk as Kaitlyn was.

"I can't believe I'm acting like this," Kaitlyn said, trying to wipe her face of tears and makeup. "I'm so sorry. I just... I don't know what came over me. It's just... all of this is too much. Seeing him twice now, being surrounded by all these memories. I need to get away, Evie. I'm moving, as soon as I can."

Eve nodded sympathetically, trying to conceal her own emotions as Kaitlyn let hers pour freely.

"I don't care if it's Chicago or Iowa or the North freakin' Pole. I just can't be in Hartford anymore."

"That's totally fine," Eve said quietly, massaging Kaitlyn's hands in hers. "Why don't you just take some time to yourself, maybe ask Ettore about spending a few days in Iowa with him? It might not be permanent, but it's something, right? We all need to escape sometimes. You know that more than anyone."

Kaitlyn giggled through her tears and reached over to pull her friend in for a hug. The two embraced in silence for a while, until they were interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat. Almost in unison, Kaitlyn and Eve looked slowly from the two pairs of expensive looking shoes on the ground beneath them upwards to the sheepish faces of Dolph Ziggler and Mike Mizanin.

* * *

"...And then I ended up bumping into him again at the gym – the same day I met you – and I actually spoke to him! It was so crazy! So we're going to go out sometime – as friends – and I'm hoping that it will become something more. Isn't that crazy?!"

If Dean Ambrose had known that Maria had so much to say, he probably would have picked a different girl to spend time with tonight. When he had spotted her in the club, he almost couldn't believe his luck. Not only had he managed to find the hot redhead that had been running through his mind since their run-in at _Believers_, but judging by the way she was making eyes at him and seemed eager to follow him to the smoking area out back, she was totally up for the same thing he was up for. But after about a minute of flirting and twenty more minutes of her life story, he was starting to regret his decision.

"Yeah," he sighed, stamping out another cigarette. "That's so crazy."

A bright-eyed Maria nodded, so pleased to see him doing what was in her mind taking an interest.

"It's so nice to just talk, y'know?" She said with a dreamy sigh. "Most guys are just all about that one thing..." She shook a finger in his face to emphasize her point. "But not you. You are so sweet, Dean!"

Dean couldn't help but burst out laughing, shaking his head as he stared at her in disbelief.

"What's so funny?" She giggled.

Was this girl for real?

"You really are something, aren't you Maria?"

She shrugged with a shy smile.

"I hope you don't think I'm dumb. Because I'm definitely not. I'm just drunk, that's all. I promise you that I'm smart, honest!"

"I don't think that at all," he laughed. "I mean, that little plan you had to get with Roman? That was pure genius."

She smacked his arm and gave a look of offense.

"That might not have been my best idea, but that's okay. I told my friend Eve that they would be really cute together and I think she's going to get him and she really deserves it. Besides, if I didn't go to the gym that day to find him, I never would have bumped into Phil and then-"

"And then you'd never have your happily ever after fairytale yadda yadda yadda, I know."

"I'm sorry," she giggled sheepishly. "I must sound so boring. But it's just so cool, you know? I love when destiny falls into your lap and things come into place as if it _is _a fairytale. I've seen it happen so many times for other people and I want it so bad to be my turn! Do you believe in that stuff?"

Dean frowned, having been put in the hot seat. He had approached this girl for a fun time, so to speak, and his idea wasn't exactly sitting in a club hypothesising about the complexities of the world, or whatever it was that Maria was doing. But seeing as he had so much time on his hands, why not humour her?

"What if I haven't decided yet? I'm an open-minded guy; maybe I just need some convincing?"

"My friends Eve and Kaitlyn are just like you. Alicia and Kelly – I told you about them before – are so awesome and open to everything but the other two act like they refuse to believe good things can just come your way for no rhyme or reason. People never take me seriously when I say that but I really mean it and I really believe it. I just think it's so tiring and stressful being negative about things like that."

"I dig that," Dean said with a nod, lighting up another cigarette. "I honestly agree with you. I'm all about positivity."

Maria gave a proud grin. Maybe it was the booze talking, but she really liked this Dean Ambrose. She could see the two of them being very good friends.

* * *

"Are you sure you want to go home?"

Kelly nodded, glancing at her phone again. She had been exchanging text messages with Justin all night and she ached to be back with him. Alicia understood, just like Kelly knew she would, but she had a feeling her three single friends wouldn't be as okay with it. After all, this night was for them. But Kelly couldn't help but feel that the main thing Maria, Eve and Kaitlyn had on their minds was hooking up with the various men they had spent most of their evenings with. She wasn't mad, of course, she understood, but she simply couldn't see why she should stick around the party when Justin was at home, alone.

Alicia sighed and followed closely behind Kelly as they walked through the busy club to get to the outdoor area out back, where they figured the others would be. Maria was the first they found, sitting by a table with the blonde man she had disappeared with earlier. They were sat close together as she spoke excitedly and colourfully, while he eyed her carefully, as if taking in every last drop of her. Alicia rolled her eyes and scoffed at the sight of it. She knew full well that Maria's naivety went up and her sense of judgement went down when she was drunk, and this guy looked like he was fully aware of this.

"Maybe I should get her home too?" She whispered to Kelly as they approached.

Kelly nodded in agreement. "We'll go talk to her first, see how she's doing. There's no way we can let her go home with him, though."

The two girls walked forward like the cavalry, both exchanging smiles with Maria and unsure nods with her companion.

"Oh my god, Dean, it's Kelly and Alicia! I've told him so much about you guys. What are you doing here?! Come sit with us!"

The excitable Maria jumped up to bring more chairs around the table and fell straight into Dean's lap in the process.

"Oh god..." Alicia muttered, jumping into action immediately. Kelly did the same, the two grabbing an arm each and hoisting her back onto her seat. Kelly cleared her throat uncomfortably as Dean held onto her waist, helping them guide her back.

"Is she usually like this?" He chuckled as the giggling woman tried to regain composure.

"Define 'usually'," Alicia said with another roll of the eyes. "I'm really sorry to crash your party but I think we should probably get her home."

"Oh guys," Maria whined. "But I was having such a good time!"

"Yeah, we can definitely see that, 'Ria," Kelly giggled. She crouched by her friend and helped her adjust her attire, while Alicia tidied up her hair.

"I can see why Maria thinks so highly of you guys," Dean joked, watching in amusement as the two women did their best to get their friend together.

"Who are you?" Alicia said suddenly, admittedly in a much harsher tone than she intended. "Not to be rude or anything, but what exactly is your game? Trying to hook up with a girl drunk out of her mind?"

"Leesh..." Kelly muttered, sending a nudge Alicia's way.

"It's alright," he said with a shrug, standing up. "I guess this must look pretty bad. I'm a friend of Roman's, we work together. I met Maria at the gym the other day and bumped into her again tonight but I can assure you my intentions were pure. You probably should get her home but when she comes to could you remind her that she put my number in her phone? And that it'd be nice to see her again, maybe?"

Kelly and Alicia looked at each other, both frowning out of confusion and surprise.

"Uh..."

"Yeah, we'll do that," Kelly jumped in, giving him a warm smile. "Thanks for keeping her company, Dean. It was nice meeting you."

Dean looked over at Maria again with a chuckle as she waved a goodbye at him. Yeah, she was definitely something.

* * *

It was taking every ounce of strength that Kaitlyn had to be civil with Dolph. Eve and Mike hung back for a while, hovering over them like mediators as they sat in a stony silence.

"Could you give us a minute?" Dolph said finally.

Eve looked at Kaitlyn for instruction and in accordance with her small nod, she took Mike by the arm and dragged him away from the area.

"You realize how bad it would be for my reputation and for Roman's reputation if she was to claw his eyes out here?"

"Very funny," Eve rolled her eyes and playfully nudged Mike. "Kaitlyn's a hothead but she's had a cool-off time and I think she's ready to be an adult."

Mike chuckled. "To be honest, judging by the state of things, I wouldn't say anyone of us are ready to be an adult."

"That's pretty true," Eve replied with a sardonic laugh. "But at least some of us are doing big things while others can't even get lucky with a hot guy who's fully registered his interest."

"That is oddly specific. Do I know him?"

"It doesn't really matter. I'm going to let Kaitlyn deal with this Dolph thing then I'm going to find the other girls and head home. I think tonight has been far too much adventure for me."

Mike gave a wry smile and gestured for Eve to sit with him at an empty table.

"Speaking of adventure," he said. "The last time I saw of Maria she was getting pretty cosy with Roman's friend, Dean."

"Oh god," Eve muttered, putting her face in her hands. "Is he a decent guy, at least?"

Mike laughed. "He's cool. A little bit of an oddball, a bit of a loner even, but as far as I know he's pretty decent. Him and Roman are practically brothers, and I can't imagine Roman rolling with him if he wasn't."

"Good," Eve sighed. "I just hope she doesn't go home with him. She's been joking about leaving with a guy tonight but with the amount that girl has had to drink..." Eve was interrupted by Mike's laughter. "What?"

"Nothing. I just find it pretty sweet how protective all of you are of each other. No wonder Kaitlyn's got this grudge against Ziggler; I can't believe she was about to get into a bar fight for Kelly's honour."

Eve bit her lip. "Yeah, I guess."

They sat in silence, enjoying this break away from the pounding lights and thudding music of the party. Eve was the first to break it, taking a deep breath and looking down at her feet as she spoke.

"Maryse is perfect," she said out of nowhere. "I'll be honest with you, Mike: I kind of wanted to meet her and have her be really mean and awful so that I'd have a reason to hate her. But she's... perfect."

Mike gave a dry chuckle. "She's the love of my life," he admitted. "Why would you want to hate her?"

"Because that's how it works with exes," she blurted out. "She's your perfect future and I'm your muddy past and you literally have everything you could ever ask for and I basically have nothing. I know this sounds awful, but it just isn't supposed to be this way, is it?"

Mike bowed his head, unsure of what he could say. Eve had finally mustered up the courage to look up at him; her gaze boring a hole through him.

"I'm very happy about my life, Eve, but that's not because I've got a great girlfriend and a job and all that stuff. All that is cool, but it's not what my happiness is dependent upon. I'll be honest with you too, if that's what we're doing tonight. My self-esteem was practically nonexistent before college. I acted like a dick to overcompensate for how unsure of myself I was. I never really learned to believe in myself until sometime into college and that's when everything else seemed to fall into place. I'm happy because I want to be, and because I made the decision that I should be. I've made my mistakes but I'm learning and growing everyday and I'm so at peace with that."

He sighed, slowly moving his hand over so that it clutched Eve's.

"I don't want us to be exes anymore, Evie. I want us to be friends. High school is in the past and it doesn't matter anymore. I want you in my life again, if you'll have me."

"Let's do it," she grinned. "Let's be friends. No more grudges, no more games, no more competition."

Mike nodded and squeezed her hand, pulling her in for a hug.

"I know times are tough, but you can get through it. I believe in you."

Eve closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling of being enveloped by Mike's warmth. _I believe in you_, he had told her, and for the first time in years, Eve found herself doing something that she never thought she'd do again; believe the words of Mike Mizanin.

"It was one time, Kaitlyn." Dolph ran a hand through his hair and shook his head in disbelief. "One time. We were both young and stupid."

"I regret it every day."

"It was mutual. We both made that decision."

"And it was wrong."

"You think I don't know that?"

"You got exactly what you wanted out of me and then you got rid of me like I was nothing. You made me feel like nothing, Dolph; just like you made Kelly feel like nothing. You've got a knack for that, haven't you?"

"I was a kid, Kaitlyn! Goddamit!"

He rose to his feet and kicked the ground in frustration, pacing around.

"God, I just don't get why you can't let it go. What, were you in love with me or something? Is that what it was? Because you know full well that-"

"Oh, shut the fuck up Dolph."

Dolph stopped, taken aback by her calm rudeness.

"You know what?" She stood and straightened herself up. "I'm done. Let's just call it a day as it is, okay? We'll agree to never see each other or speak to each other again and just be done with it. No more awkward encounters around town, no more awkward banter; that's it. I can make peace with never having to see you again, for real this time. So let's do that."

He grabbed her arm as she went to leave, a repeat of their previous encounter at the park. She shrugged it off with little hesitation.

"What if that option doesn't work for me?"

"Well then, that's just too bad."

"For god's sake, Kaitlyn..."

"What exactly do you want from me, Dolph?" The tone of her voice was increasingly desperate, as if she was pleading with him to just let her be.

"I want to know why you're so mad at me 'till this day! I know full well that it isn't because I cheated on Kelly back in high school, nor is it because we fucked..."

"Stop it, Dolph-"

"So what is it?" By now they were up close and personal, their faces just inches from each other. "Did I suck in bed? Did I break your heart by not asking you to be my girlfriend? Are you just guilty about Kelly? There _has _to be something..."

"It's because you're an asshole," she spat. "You were back then and you still are. You take advantage of girls at their weakest, lowest point and you prey on them and you make them your personal conquests and you make it so they can never trust a man again, that's all your fault and I despise you for it. Just looking at you, standing here with you makes me feel sick to my stomach. So I don't ever want to see you again. I want you out of my life and this time for good."

Dolph stared her down in disbelief. Her chest was heaving and her fists were clenched. She showed no signs of backing down, either; staring him straight in the eye and forcing him to stare back. Then out of nowhere he took a step forward and cupped her face in his hands, planting a strong, passionate kiss on her lips. It only took her seconds to push him away from her and slap him straight across his cheek.

"I mean it, Dolph," she spoke quietly, her voice breaking as she did so. "I don't want to see you again. I can't keep dealing with this and going back and..." she sighed, shaking her head. "I'm asking you to respect that."

His jaw clenched and he remained in silence as he stared at her.

"Fine," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "That's it, then. Goodbye, Kaitlyn."

"Bye Dolph."

She hung back nervously as his eyes finally dropped from hers and he turned and left; not even bothering to straighten up his jacket or smooth down his hair like he usually would. Kaitlyn could feel her breath catching in her throat as she watched him leave, and she had no choice but to try her absolute best to keep from sobbing.

* * *

"Eve! There you are!"

Eve gasped as Kelly wandered over, her pretty features just as friendly looking as they always were.

"Hi Mike," she greeted the man sat beside her friend, slightly confused about his presence in the place of this Roman guy Eve had her eye on.

"Hey Kells. What's up?"

"Well, I'm just getting ready to go."

"Cool, I'll come with."

Eve jumped up in a hurry and practically began to usher Kelly back the way she came. Kelly giggled and questioned her rush to leave.

"It's fine, Eve, you should stay. You seem like you're having a really good – _Dolph?_"

Time seemed to stop as Eve, Kelly, Mike and Dolph all froze in shock. Eve could feel the panic setting within her, while Kelly and Dolph were engaged in a tense stare down. Kelly and Dolph had on matching horrified expressions. Eve and Mike stared at each other, each silently begging for the other to come up with a game plan.

Time didn't start up again until Kaitlyn finally wandered over from the same way Dolph did. Realizing she had walked right into the worst situation possible, she froze and her glance darted across the four people stood around her.

In typical night out fashion, all of this was rudely interrupted by Kaitlyn doubling over and vomiting into the gutter behind her.


End file.
